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“ A quartette of boys and girls were darting about on skates.” 
— Page 1. 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON 


BV 



ANNA CHAPIN RAY 

<1 


AUTHOR OF *‘HALF A DOZEN BOYS,” ‘‘HALF A DOZEN GIRLS,” ETC. 


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OCT 

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NEW YORK: 46 East 14TH Street 


THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 


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BOSTON: 100 Purchase Street 






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Copyright, 

1802, 

By Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. 


r rinted and E lectrotyped by 

Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston 


If you’ve wronged him, speak him fair. 
Say you ’re sorry and make it square ; 

If he ’s Avronged you, wink so tight 
None of you see what ’s plain in sight. 

When the world goes hard and wrong. 
Lend a hand to help him along; 

When his stockings have holes to darn, 
Don’t you grudge him your ball of yarn. 


Stick to each other through thick and thin; 
All the closer as age leaks in; 

Squalls will blow, and clouds will frown, 
But stay by your ship till you all go down ! 


Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



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CONTENTS 


chapter page 

I. A Council on Skates 7 

II. To Welcome the Coming Guest ... 23 

III. The Everett Household 44 

IV. On the Cross-head 61 

V. The Meeting in the Waters .... 77 

VI. Marjorie’s Party 92 

VII. Janey’s Prophecy no 

VIII. In the Dark 127 

IX. Camping on the Beaverhead . . . .145 

X. Up the Gulch 163 

XI. “Sweet Charity’s Sake” 180 

XII. Home without a Mother 199 

XHI. At the Nine-hundred Level . . . .216 

XIV. The Beginning of the Old Story . . . 233 

XV. Mr. Atherden 250 

XVI. The Completed Story 268 

XVH. The Tragedy of the UNEXPEcrrED . . . 283 

XVHI. Under Orders 299 



IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


CHAPTER 1. 

A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 

A STRONG southeast wind was blowing up the 
canon and driving before it the dense yellow 
smoke which rolled up from the great red chim- 
neys of the smelter. To the east and west of the 
town, the mountains rose abruptly, their steep sides 
bare or covered with patches of yellow pine. At 
the north, the canon closed in to form a narrow 
gorge between the mountains ; but towards the 
south it opened out into a broad valley, through 
which the swiftly rushing creek twisted and turned 
along its willow-bordered bed. A half mile below 
the town the creek suddenly broadened into a little 
lake that was now frozen over, forming a sheet of 
(dazzling ice, upon which a quartette of boys and 
girls were darting about on skates. 

“ Ugh ! ” gasped one of the boys, as a sudden 
gust of wind, coming straight from the east, brought 


8 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


the stifling cloud in their direction; “I’m glad 
I ’m not up in town this afternoon. It ’s getting 
ready for a storm, I think, from the way the smoke 
comes down ; and they must be catching it all, up 
there.” 

“ Oh, dear ! ” sighed the girl with whom he was 
skating; “if it storms ’twill be sure to be more 
snow, and spoil the ice. It ’s too bad, for we get 
so little skating out here, and it ’s almost time to 
go home now. Just see how low the sun is 
getting ! ” 

“ Never mind, Marjorie,” said the boy, as he 
paused to breathe on his cold fingers ; then held 
out his hand to her once more. “ We ’ll have one 
more go across the pond, anyway, for there ’s no 
knowing when we ’ll have another chance. You 
take Allie, Ned, and we ’ll race you, two and two, 
over to that largest stump. Come on, and get 
into line. One ! two ! three! ” 

Away they flew, the bright blades of their 
skates flashing in the long slanting rays of the 
late afternoon sun, and their eyes and cheeks 
glowing with the cold air and rapid exercise. 
Marjorie and her attendant knight were the first 
to reach the goal, and turned, panting, to face the 
others as they came up to them. 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 


9 


“That was just fine!” exclaimed Allie’s com- 
panion, as he dropped her hand and spun around 
in a narrow circle which sent the chips of ice fly- 
ing from under his heel. “ Don’t let ’s go home 
just yet, ’t won’t be dark for an hour anyway, and 
we can go up in fifteen minutes. I ’ll race you 
over to the other side and back again, Howard, 
while the girls are getting their breath.” 

“ You don’t mind being left, Allie?” And the 
taller boy glanced at the girls. 

“All right, just for once,” said Allie; “ then we 
really ought to go up, Howard ; mamma wants us 
to be home in good season to-night, for dinner 
is going to be early, so papa can get the train 
down.” 

“ Is your father going away again? ” asked Mar- 
jorie, as the girls skated idly to and fro, waiting 
for the boys to join them. “ I thought he came 
in from camp only this morning.” 

“ So he did,” answered her friend, burying her 
small nose in her muff for a moment, as she faced 
the cutting wind. “ He ’s only going down to 
Pocatello to-night, and out on the main line a 
little ways, to meet Charlie MacGregor, our cousin 
that’s coming.” 

“ Yes,” nodded Marjorie, in acquiescence ; “ I 


10 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


remember now; I’d forgotten he was coming so 
soon. What fun you’ll have with him, Allie ! I 
wish I had a brother, or cousin, or something.” 

“ Perhaps I shall wish I didn’t have both,” said 
Allie, laughing. “ I don’t know how he and How- 
ard will get on. I think Howard doesn’t want him 
much ; but I ’d just as soon he ’d be here.” 

“What’s he like?” queried Marjorie curiously. 

“ I haven’t much idea ; I ’ve never seen him,” 
said Allie. “ Papa saw him when he was east last 
summer, and we have a picture of him taken ever 
so long ago.” 

“Who’s that — Charlie MacGregor?” asked 
Howard, skating up to them at that moment. 
“ He ’s not much to look at, Marjorie, if his pic- 
ture ’s any good. He has a pug nose and wears 
giglamps, and I ’ve a suspicion that he ’s a fearful 
dude. He ’ll be a tenderfoot, of course, but he ’ll 
get over that ; but if he ’s a dude, we boys will 
make it lively for him.” 

“ Howard, you sha’n’t ! ” remonstrated his sister, 
loyally coming to the defence of their unknown 
cousin. “ It must be horrid for him to lose all his 
friends and have to be sent out here to relations 
he doesn’t know nor care anything about, just like 
a barrel of flour.” Allie’s metaphors were becom- 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. II 

ing mixed ; but she never heeded that, as she 
went on proudly : “ And besides, we ’re MacGreg- 
ors as much as he is, and mamma says that no 
MacGregor was ever rude to a cousin, or to any- 
body in trouble.” 

“ Good for you, Allie ! ” shouted the younger 
boy, as he stopped in the middle of a figure eight 
to applaud her words. “ You ’re in the right of 
it ; but you needn’t think you ’ll ever keep Howard 
in order. How old is this lad, anyhow?” 

“ Half way between Howard and me,” replied 
Allie, as they started to skate slowly up the creek 
towards home, and Howard and Marjorie dropped 
a little in the rear. “ He was thirteen last sum- 
mer, and papa says he ’s a real, true musician. 
He ’ll bring his own piano with him ; but I don’t 
know where he ’ll find room to put it, for our 
house is full as can be, now. Then he sings, too, — 
at least, he used to, — in a boy choir. Have n’t you 
seen his picture, Ned? It’s homely, but it looks 
as if he might not be so bad.” 

“ Where’s he coming from? ” asked Ned. 

“ New York. He ’s lived there always ; but, you 
know, his father died two years ago, and his mother 
last month. He hasn’t any relations but just us, 
so he is to live here for awhile. You and Howard 


12 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


will stand by him, won’t you, Ned?” she added 
persuasively, laying her mittened hand on his. 
“ I ’m afraid the other boys will run on him and 
make fun of him. Don’t tell Howard I said so, 
but I don’t expect to like him much myself, only 
I’m sort of sorry for him; and then he’s our 
cousin, so I suppose we must make sure he has a 
good time.” 

“ I won’t be hard on him, Allie,” her companion 
answered her, laughing a little at the unwonted 
seriousness of her tone; “as long as he doesn’t 
put on airs and talk big about New York and ‘ the 
way we do East,’ and all that poppycock, I ’ll stand 
by him. But if he ’s coming out here to show us 
how to do it, the sooner it ’s taken out of him the 
better.” 

“ Wait till the train comes in, day after to- 
morrow morning, Ned,” said Howard, as, with a 
few quick strokes, he and Marjorie overtook them 
once more. “We’ll take a look at him and see 
what he ’s like, before we make too many prom- 
ises. Now, then, ma’am,” he added, as he and 
Marjorie paused at a great stone on the bank of 
the creek; “ if you ’ll be good enough to sit down, 
I ’ll have your skates off instanter.” 

Marjorie laughed, as she dropped down on the 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 


13 


stone and put one little foot on Howard’s knee, 
while Ned performed a similar service for Allie. 

I ’m crazy to see your cousin, Allie,” she said. 
“ I know he ’s going to be great fun, only I ’m 
afraid he ’ll think we are hopeless tomboys. Prob- 
ably he ’s been used to girls that sit in the parlor 
and sew embroidery, instead of skating and riding 
bronchos bareback, and playing hare and hounds 
with the boys.” 

“ Don’t care if he has ! ” And Allie made a little 
grimace of defiance as she scrambled to her feet. 
“I ’m not going to give up all my good times and 
take to fancy work, when it ’s as much as I can do 
to sew on my own buttons. He can stay in the 
house, and sing songs and sew patchwork all day 
long, if he wants to, but I ’m not going to give up 
all my frolics; need I, boys?” she concluded, in a 
mutinous outburst, quite at variance with her re- 
cent plea for their expected guest. 

Howard laughed teasingly. 

“Catch Allie turning the fine young lady! If 
you shut her up in a parlor, she 'd jump over the 
chairs and play tag with herself around the table ; 
and Marjorie is about as bad.” 

“Perhaps I am,” she assented placidly; “but 
you boys could never get along without us. I ’ve 


14 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


heard you say, over and over again, that we can 
catch a ball as well as half the boys in town, and 
I can outrun you any day. Want to try? ” 

“ Not much,” returned Howard, laughing, though 
there rankled in his mind the memory of recent 
races in which he had not been the winner. You 
only beat me because you ’ve been used to this 
air longer than I have. Besides, it would hurry 
us home too much, and I Ve an idea that this 
may be the last time that we four chums will 
be off together, for one while. I shall have to 
trot round with that fellow, for the next week, and 
show him the ways of the country, so he won’t 
make too great a jay of himself. But, I say, if it 
doesn’t storm to-morrow, we ’ll come down here 
again in the afternoon, and have an hour or two 
on the ice before it’s spoiled.” 

With their skates strapped together and slung 
over their shoulders, their collars turned up around 
their ears, and their hands plunged deep into pock- 
ets and muffs, they turned northward along the 
bank of the creek for a short distance, and then 
struck off across the level, open ground till they 
came into one of the streets of the little town, 
which they followed until they reached the main 
business street. There they parted, Ned and 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 


15 


Marjorie turning to the west, while Howard and 
Allie kept straight on towards the north, and 
finally stopped at a small brick house, a low, one- 
story affair, yet much more elaborate than the 
average dwelling of the town, where the architec- 
ture was largely of the log-house species, though 
often covered with a layer of boards to disguise 
the primitive nature of the materials. 

The front door opened directly into the little 
parlor, and into this cosy room Howard and Allie 
plunged, laughing and breathless after their quick 
walk in the cold. A bright-faced little woman sat 
sewing by the front window, holding up her work 
to catch the last fading light, and a rosy boy, two 
years old, was tumbling about on the carpet, roll- 
ing over and over the great dog, who was dozing 
as peacefully as if such demonstrations were quite 
to his liking. 

“ Hullo, mammy ! Hullo, Vic! Dinner ready ? ” 
exclaimed Howard, casting his skates into the 
nearest chair, and moving up to the stove to warm 
his chilled fingers. 

“How was the skating?” asked his mother, * 
looking up from her work to smile at Allie, as she 
pulled off her coat and hat, and then caught up 
the child from the floor. 


1 6 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

“ Fine ; but we ’re ’most starved — at least, I 
am,” returned Howard, as he wriggled himself out 
of his coat and handed it to Allie, who received 
it quite as a matter of course, and went away to 
hang it in its usual place. 

“ Well, dinner is all ready, and papa will be 
here in a minute; so you can go and tell Janey to 
take it up. Do you know,” she added, with a 
laugh which took all the sting from the reproof ; 
“ I think it is time my boy learned to take his 
sister’s coat for her, instead of expecting her to 
wait on him.” 

“All right,” answered Howard, by no means 
abashed by the rebuke. “ Here, sis, if you ’ll just 
bring back your coat and put it on again, I ’ll see 
what can be done about it.” And he bent over to 
stroke his mother’s hair with a boyish affection 
which filled her heart with gratitude for having 
such a son, even while it sent her off to her toilet 
table to repair the damages which his fingers had 
wrought. Then he marched out to the kitchen to 
tease Janey, until she threatened to pour the soup 
* over his favorite pudding, unless he left her to 
take up the dinner in peace. 

Mr. Burnam, Howard’s father, was a successful 
civil engineer, who, in the line of his professional 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 


17 

life, had been ordered up and down the West ac- 
cording to the demands of the great railroad cor- 
poration by whom he was employed. The life of 
a locating engineer is much like that of the soldier, 
in its need for strict obedience to orders, and for 
eighteen years Mr. Burnani had been stationed, 
now here, now there, — on the rolling prairies of 
Iowa, in the Dakota bad lands, in the alkali des- 
erts of Wyoming, and among the canons and 
passes of the Colorado Rockies. Six months 
before this time he had been ordered to western 
Montana, to lay out a possible railway across the 
mountains, which should give the Pacific-coast cities 
a more direct connection with their eastern neigh- 
bors. The survey for this line would occupy him for 
a year or more, and in order to have his family near 
him during this time, he had made his headquar- 
ters in the little mining camp, which the first 
prospectors along the canon, some four years be- 
fore, had christened “ Blue Creek,” from the clear, 
bright waters of the mountain stream. Here he 
established his family in the most comfortable 
house that the town afforded, and here he had his 
office, which served as headquarters for his corps 
of men, whenever they came in town for a few 
days. By virtue of his position as chief of the 


1 8 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

party, Mr. Burnam often spent weeks at a time at 
home, working up his estimates and maps, and 
only driving out to camp now and then, for a day 
or two, to see that all was well in his absence. 
Then, just as his family were settling down to the 
full enjoyment of his society, he would be sent for, 
to oversee some difficult bit of work, and Mrs. 
Burnam and Allie would be left to the protec- 
tion of Howard, and of Ben, the great Siberian 
bloodhound, who was as gentle as a kitten until 
molested, when all his old savage instincts sprang 
into life. 

One of the early graduates from Cornell, Mr. 
Burnam had gone West when a mere boy, fresh 
from college ; and now, at forty, he had made him- 
self a brilliant reputation in his profession. The 
chief, as they called him, was adored by all his 
men, who knew, from long experience, that how- 
ever great the danger and hardship might be, he 
was always ready to share it with them, and that 
he made it a part of his creed never to ask a sub- 
ordinate to take a risk which he himself would 
shun. Quick-tempered and outspoken in the 
presence of any suspicion of shirking or deceit, he 
was yet a just, honorable man in dealing with his 
“ boys,” who loved and respected him accordingly. 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 


19 


At home, he was a different man ;* for he threw 
aside his professional dignity, to tease his wife, 
or romp with his children, lavishing upon them all 
the love of which his great, generous nature was 
capable. 

For the sake of her husband, Mrs. Burnam had 
willingly cut herself adrift from her family and 
friends in New York, and for sixteen years she 
had patiently followed him here and there through 
the West; now living in camp for a summer, now 
boarding at tiny country hotels, in order to be 
within driving distance of his party ; now left for 
months at a time in the busy solitude of a great 
city hotel, while Mr. Burnam was far away in un- 
explored forests, and often, as now, settled near 
him for a few months of housekeeping which 
should give her children at least a slight knowledge 
of home life and its charms. 

Two years after her marriage, a little son had 
come to her, and, soon after that, a daughter had 
helped to fill out the family circle. It seemed to 
Mrs. Burnam but a few months since then ; but 
Howard was fourteen now, and Allie twelve, while, 
two years before this time, a third child had come 
to brighten the home with his baby prattle and 
pranks. For weeks, his name had been a subject 


20 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


of almost constant discussion, until, one day, 
Howard had solved the problem in a most unex- 
pected fashion. 

“ I ’ll tell you what,” he said suddenly ; “ name 
him Victor, for my new bicycle.” And the name 
was decided upon accordingly. 

Howard, himself, was a worthy son of the hand- 
some, brown-bearded man whom he called papa. 
Tall, slender, and yellow haired, he was as bonnie 
a laddie as ever filled a mother’s heart with pride ; 
a healthy, happy boy, affectionate and generous, 
and full of a rollicking fun which made him at 
once the delight and terror of his sister, who never 
knew in what direction his next outbreak would 
come. In spite of his merciless teasing, the 
brother and sister were close friends and constantly 
together. Girls were scarce in the town, and Allie 
and her one friend, Marjorie Fisher, would have 
been largely left to their own devices, had it not 
been for Howard and Ned Everett, through whose 
influence they were received on equal terms among 
the boys, and had a share in most of their good 
times. It was no uncommon thing to hear them 
speak of “Allie and Marjorie and the other boys,” 
and neither Mrs. Burnani nor Mrs. Fisher felt any 
desire to have it otherwise. They were too sensi- 


A COUNCIL ON SKATES. 


2 


ble mothers to force their little daughters towards 
womanhood, and much preferred the tone of free- 
and-easy companionship to the childish flirtations 
so commonly indulged in. They could trust to 
their influence over their children to keep them 
gentle and womanly, and the boys were all gentle- 
men, largely sons of Eastern men whom business 
had brought to the town. So the girls walked and 
rode, skated and romped with the lads, uncon- 
sciously teaching them many a pretty lesson in 
chivalry, while in return the boys gave them a train- 
ing which made them enduring and courageous, 
and hardy as a pair of little Indians. For six 
months, this had been their life, and by this time 
there had formed one well-recognized set whose 
members were constantly together, and, though 
they mingled more or less with the other young 
people, yet kept themselves distinct from their 
companions. Four of this number were the little 
group of skaters, the fifth was Ned’s younger 
brother. Grant, who was usually the central figure 
in their frolics. 

The one other member of the Burnam house- 
hold, who is as yet in the background, deserves at 
least a passing remark. This was Janey, the 
young negro maid who ruled their kitchen. What 


22 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


had ever brought her from the warm South into 
the midst of Rocky Mountain snows, it would be 
hard to tell ; but, two months before, she had an- 
swered to Mrs. Burnam’s advertisement for a 
servant, and was promptly installed in her kitchen, 
where she convulsed the family with her pranks, 
and averted many a well-merited lecture by some 
sudden, artless remark, which sent Mrs. Burnam 
hurrying out of the room, in search of a corner 
where she could laugh unseen. Surely, since the 
days of Topsy, the immortal, there was never such 
an imp as Janey. Mrs. Burnam declared that she 
was as good as a tonic, and Mr. Burnam made no 
secret of his enjoyment of her antics, which were 
always as original as they were unexpected. 

“My name’s Edmonia Jackson,” she had said, 
in answer to Mrs. Burnam’s question; “but dey 
mos’ly calls me Janey. But laws. Mis’, ef you’ll 
on’y let me stay yere, you all can call me what 
you want. Names is nothin’, but I don’ want to 
work in one o’ them log-cabins ; they ’s too much 
like what our po’ w ’ites lives in. Give me brick 
or nothin’ ! ” 


CHAPTER II. 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 

Only ten minutes more ! ” said Allie, ex- 
citedly prancing up and down the platform. “ I 
do so hope the train won’t be late.” 

“ Allie ’s getting in a hurry to see the cousin,” 
remarked Grant Everett teasingly. “ You and 
Howard ’ll have to step out of the way when he 
comes, Ned. You needn’t think you ’re going to 
stand any chance against this new attraction.” 

“ Maybe so,” said Howard scornfully, while he 
flattened his nose against the ticket-office window, 
in a vain endeavor to see the clock. “ Girls always 
like a new face, and Allie ’s just like all the rest 
of them.” 

“ No,” said Allie judicially, as she pulled the 
collar of her fur jacket more closely about her 
ears. “ Of course I like you boys best, but I ’m 
sort of curious about Charlie, as long as he ’s go- 
ing to live with us for a year or so. If he ’s nice, 
it will be like having another brother ; but if he ’s 
horrid, it will spoil all our good times. It 's a very 
23 


24 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


dependable circumstance, as Janey says, that^s 
all.” 

It was the second morning after their skating 
party, and Howard, Allie, and the two Everett 
boys were pacing up and down the platform, 
while they waited for the coming of the train 
which should bring them their new companion. 
They formed an attractive little group as they 
moved to and fro, talking and laughing, or paus- 
ing now and again to turn and gaze down the 
track, which stretched far away before them in 
two shining rows of steel. With the instinct of 
the true hostess, Allie had arrayed herself in her 
state and festival suit, and sallied forth to meet 
her father and cousin, and extend to their guest a 
prompt welcome to his new home. Half-way to 
the station she was surprised at being overtaken 
by the three boys, who came rushing after her, 
shouting her name as they ran. 

“‘Where are you going, my pretty maid?’” 
panted Ned, dropping into step at one side, while 
Howard took the other, and Grant capered along 
the sidewalk in front of them, now backwards, 
now sideways, and now forwards, as the conversa- 
tion demanded his entire attention, or became 
uninteresting once more. 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 25 

“ ‘ I ’m going to meet Cousin Charlie, she said,’ ” 
answered Allie, laughing. 

“ So that ’s the why of all these fine feathers,” 
commented Ned ; while Howard added, — 

“ All right ; we ’ll go with you.” 

“ But I thought you just told mamma that you 
wouldn’t go, anyway,” responded Allie, astonished 
at this sudden change of plan. 

“Well, I’m here,” answered Howard calmly. 
“ I ’m not going to welcome him with open arms, 
though ; and you need n’t think I am. We fellows 
are just going to take a look at him on the sly, 
and then we can tell better how to treat him.” 

“But, Howard, you mustn’t; he’ll see you,” 
remonstrated Allie, scandalized at the suggestion. 
“ If papa knows it he won’t like it a bit.” 

“Oh, that’s all right, Allie, said Ned reassur- 
ingly. “ All we ’re going to do is to hide behind 
that pile of freight boxes over there, and get a 
good look at him without his knowing it. Then 
we ’ll light out for home, and Howard will be there 
ahead of you, see if he isn’t; so, if you don’t give 
it away, there ’ll be no harm done.” 

“ Unless you tell of it yourselves,” said Allie 
doubtfully. “ I don’t half like it; and if Howard 
won’t help meet him, he ought to keep clear out 


26 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


of the way. But there ’s one thing about it, boys, 
you must, you really must, stop talking so much 
slang. It ’s bad enough with us girls, and I ’m 
getting to use it as much as you do ; but you ’ll 
scare Charlie to pieces if you talk so much of it.” 

“ Does our right worshipful brother maintain 
himself in his usual health and spirits? — is that 
the style, Allie?” asked Howard, as he took off 
his cap with a flourish, and bowed low before some 
imaginary personage. 

“ I caught Allie studying the dictionary, yester- 
day morning,” said Grant, turning to face them 
once more. “ She had a piece of paper in her 
lap, with concatenation and peripatetic and nos- 
talgia written on it, and I supposed she was 
studying her spelling lesson, but now I see, — she 
was just making up a sentence to say to him. 
Speak up loud, Allie, so we can hear.” 

“ You ’d better stay here and listen,” said Allie. 
“But there’s the train, see, just coming round 
the curve down the canon. Off with you, if you 
really are going to be so silly ! ” 

The boys whirled around hastily, to assure them- 
selves that it was no false alarm ; then they left 
her to wait alone, while they settled themselves 
behind a pile of great wooden boxes which half 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 2/ 

filled the upper end of the platform. Allie 
watched them arrange themselves at their ease ; 
then, when they were quite hidden from view, she 
turned back to look at the train as it rushed up 
the valley towards her, sending along the rails 
before it a fierce throbbing which kept time to 
her own leaping pulse. 

In spite of her light talk and laughter, Allie 
was conscious of a keen sense of excitement, as 
she stood waiting to receive her cousin. He was 
the only child of Mrs. Burnam’s only brother; 
and now, at thirteen, he was left alone in the 
world, doubly orphaned, and with no near rela- 
tives save this one aunt, to whose care his 
dying mother had intrusted her boy. All that 
Allie knew had only served to interest her in the 
young stranger ; his love for music and his unusual 
talent for it, his former life spent in a luxurious 
city home, even his present loneliness had touched 
her girlish heart with pity, and made her resolve 
to render his new life pleasant to him, in spite of 
the possible teasing he might have to undergo from 
the boys. And then, while she was determined to 
become his champion at any cost, there was always 
the delightful possibility that he might be a pleas- 
ant addition to their little circle, and contribute 
his share to the frolics which were continually 


28 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


taking place at either the Burnams' or the Everetts’. 
Far into the hours of the previous night she had 
lain awake, picturing her cousin as he would prob- 
ably appear to them, and going over and over in 
her own mind the details of their first meeting. 
She was sorry that he had lost his mother ; but 
she found herself fervently hoping that he would 
not be so very dismal, and even that he might 
laugh a little occasionally, when anything particu- 
larly amusing should occur. 

“ Well, daught, how goes it? ” And Allie found 
herself in her father’s arms, and then released, as 
Mr. Burnam added, “ Here, Charlie, this is your 
Cousin Alice.” 

With a sudden shyness, Allie put her hand into 
the one before her, as she glanced up at the boy- 
ish face which was looking down into her own. 
Something she read there, in the half-anxious ex- 
pression of the brown eyes, made her forget her 
more formal salutation, and say cordially, — 

Are you the new brother that ’s come to live 
at our house? It’s going to be splendid to have 
you there.” And with a little confiding, sisterly 
gesture, she pulled his hand through her arm, in 
an unspoken welcome which was inexpressibly 
grateful to the lad, tired with his three thousand 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 29 


miles of lonely journeying, and dreading to meet 
these strange cousins into whose home life he 
had been so abruptly forced. Now, as he looked 
at Allie’s slight, girlish figure, and at her bright, 
happy face which not even her irregular features 
could render plain, he felt a sudden sense of relief, 
and secretly wished that all the family might be 
as attractive as his genial uncle and the pleasant 
cousin who had given him so sisterly a greeting. 

“ Come,” she added, as her father beckoned to 
them ; “ we ’ll go over and get into that carriage, 
while papa hunts up your trunks.” -And she led 
the way across the platform with an apparent un- 
consciousness of the three heads which precipi- 
tately bobbed down out of sight at their approach, 
while the owners of the heads coiled themselves 
up in the narrowest of corners, with much scrap- 
ing of shoes on the boards, in the process. 

“ This old station is just full of rats,” she con- 
tinued, in a tone of careless explanation, as they 
passed the hiding-place of her brother and his 
friends. “ I heard the ticket-man say, just before 
your train came in, that he was coming out with 
his gun to shoot some of them, as soon as the 
engine had backed down out of the way.” 

A long-drawn squeak, as of an animal in pain, 


30 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


answered to her words, and they went on, while 
Allie threw one triumphant glance over her shoul- 
der at the three heads which had promptly reap- 
peared as soon as her back was turned. 

Once seated opposite her cousin in the car- 
riage, while they waited for Mr. Burnam to join 

them, Allie could study his face at her ease, as she 
chattered away to him, in the hope of making him 
feel at home. He had attracted her at the first 
glance ; and the more she looked at him the 
stronger became her impression that here was a 
cousin worth having. He was large of his age, 
finely formed, and taller than Howard, and had a 
frank, boyish face, which just now looked a little 
tired after his long journey, and a little troubled and 
nervous at coming among new friends. For the 
rest, he had a mass of soft, reddish-brown hair, a 
freckled face, firm red lips which parted, now and 

then, to show two rows of small, even teeth, and 
two deep dimples that came and went in his cheeks, 
and a pair of near-sighted brown eyes that looked 
very steadily into Allie’s, as if trying to read his 
new kinswoman, and find out from her into what 
hands he was likely to fall. 

And, indeed, he would have looked far that 
day without finding a more attractive cousin, for 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 3 I 

Allie, in her desire to play the hostess well, had 
dropped her usual rollicking manner, and assumed 
a sweet, childish dignity which became her as well 
as her more wonted gayety. Charlie’s face cleared 
a little, as he looked into her great blue eyes and 
watched the changing expressions of her fresh 
young face, so pretty and bright in its soft, warm 
setting of fur. 

“Why didn’t Howard come down with you, 
daught?” asked Mr. Burnam, as he took his place 
beside them, and the carriage, turning from the 
station, drove away up the street towards the 
house. 

For^^n instant, Allie’s gaze was fixed on a dis- 
tant opening between the buildings, where three 
boyish figures were scurrying along as fast as their 
feet could carry them. Then she roused herself, 
and turned to the lad before her, as if she had 
not heard her father’s question. 

“ Didn’t you have a good time on the way out 
here. Cousin Charlie'^” she inquired hastily. 
“Howard and I have been envying you your 
journey.” 

“ Can’t say I enjoyed it,” Charlie answered. 
“ I ’d never even travelled all night before, and it 
was no end lonesome, riding along, day in and 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


3A 

day out, without a soul to speak to. An old 
friend of mother’s met me in Chicago, and put 
me on the train for Council Bluffs, and ’twas 
easy enough changing there, so I didn’t have any 
trouble ; but you ’d better believe I was glad to 
see Uncle Ralph when he walked into the sleeper 
yesterday afternoon.” 

“ I believe I ’d be willing to go round the world 
alone, if I could only go,” said Allie. “I’m a 
real railroad man’s daughter, and like to travel ; 
don’t I, poppy?” And she nestled closer to her 
father’s side, while with amused eyes she watched 
their guest’s expression change, first to astonish- 
ment, then to disgust, as he looked at th% main 
street, with its low buildings, some few of brick, 
little one-story structures, whose fronts were run up 
in a thin, flat wall, with sham window blinds at a 
second-story level, to present the appearance of 
more pretentious buildings. 

Fresh as he was from the closely-packed streets of 
the great city, with their unbroken rows of towering 
business blocks and apartment houses, Charlie was 
conscious of vague wonder at the rough little mining 
camp before him. Then he turned and looked up at 
the mountain, and, boy that he was, he forgot all 
else, all the crudeness of the buildings and all the 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 33 

roughness of the surroundings, as he saw the 
full grandeur of the snow-clad Rockies shining and 
glistening in the morning sunshine, which lay ca- 
ressingly over their giants lopes. He bent forward 
to look at them once more, while his face grew very 
thoughtful and intent; then he dropped back into 
his old corner, saying, in an awed, hushed tone, as 
if to himself, — 

“Jove! It’s worth it all, to have a chance to 
look at those.” 

“ I ’m glad you like them,” said Allie heartily, 
though she smiled at his “ Jove,” when she recalled 
her recent charge to Howard to avoid all slang. 
“ The town must seem queer to you ; but the moun- 
tains make up for it. Now lean ’way forward, 
and look out this side. That little brick house is 
ours ; and there ’s mamma in the door, and How- 
ard just back of her, waiting to give you greeting.” 

“Now, honestly, Allie, how did you like him?” 
Howard asked, as soon as his mother had taken 
Charlie to his room and the door - closed behind 
them. 

“ I think I do like him,” said Allie slowly. “ He 
didn’t talk much coming up ; but I don’t know as 
I wonder, when we ’re all strangers to him. He 
has sort of a good face ; of course he isn’t hand- 


34 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


some, like Ned and Grant, but he looks as if he’d 
have some fun in him.” 

** I shouldn’t think he did look like Ned,” re- 
turned Howard disdainfully; “you don’t often 
see anybody that does. This fellow has red hair, 
too, and I don’t like that kind. He ’s dressed 
himself up regardless, in his derby hat and long- 
tailed ulster. Does he wear knickerbockers, Allie, 
or does he think he ’s too old for them? ” 

“ How should I know? ” answered Allie. “He’s 
pretty long, and I began at the top, so I didn’t 
get down so far; but when we are used to his 
freckles and his glasses, I don’t think he’ll seem 
so bad to us.” 

“You almost gave us away, with your rat 
speech,” said Howard, laughing at the recollec- 
tion. “ Grant giggled till I was afraid Charlie ’d 
hear him, so I squeaked to cover up the noise. 
You had us cornered there; and I didn’t want 
to get caught, for I knew mammy wouldn’t like it. 
She ’s been so anxious to have Charlie get here 
and have a good time with us, that I didn’t want 
to spoil it all.” 

“ How long have you been home?” asked his 
sister, as she turned away to go to her room and 
take off her jacket and hat. 


5 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 35 


“ I had just time to drop off my coat, as I came 
in through the kitchen, and get to the front door, 
when you turned the corner. I believe mammy 
has spent the last hour between the door and win- 
dow. I wonder what they’re doing in there; I 
wish they’d hurry up, for I want some lunch. 
Charlie ought to be hungry, too, for he had break- 
fast at Argenta. Remember those elk steaks we 
had there last fall, sis? ” 

Allie made a wry face at the memory. 

“ Poor Charlie ! He will think he ’s come into 
the wilderness. You should have seen his face, 
Howard, when we were driving up Main Street. 
It was too funny ; he looked as if he did n’t know 
whether to laugh or cry. He stood it very well 
till he came to the office ; then that green sham 
front was too much for him, and he fairly groaned.” 
“ I ’ll tell you what,” Howard counselled her ; 
can’t you get hold of him, and tell him about some 
of the ways we have out here, and get him used 
to it, so he won’t show just what he thinks of us? 
Girls can do that sort of thing better than boys, 
and he ’ll need some coaching, of course. Just 
pussy-cat him a little ; and then he looks as if he ’d 
take any amount of advice. I don’t care, for you 
and me; but the Everetts won’t stand anything 


36 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


of that kind. They Ve been here ever since the 
town started, and they think it ’s the only place 
in the world.” 

'T is one of the best,” said Allie decisively. 
“ Of course, ’tisn’t pretty, nor very fine ; but I Ve 
had the best times since I came here I ever had, 
and I ’m not going to have anybody run it down 
when I ’m round. I ’ll give him a talking-to this 
very night. Now, let’s just come out and take 
one race to the corner and back ; I ’ye been 
proper as long as I can, and I must do something 
to let off steam. He’s all out of the way and 
won’t see me. Come on ! ” And away they went, 
racing down the street in the warm noon sun. 

After his quiet talk with his aunt, who had gone 
with him to lead the way to his room, Charlie no 
longer felt any doubt of his welcome. Mrs. Bur- 
nam was so like his father in her manner, so bright 
and brisk, yet so gentle, that her nephew felt at 
ease with her at once. There had been something 
indescribably motherly in her face, as she sat down 
on the edge of the bed, and, taking his hand, 
drew him down at her side, while she questioned 
him about his journey, and the friends he had left 
behind him. Then she spoke of his mother so 
tenderly that the boy’s lips quivered, and two 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 


37 


great tears rolled down his cheeks. That was 
more than Mrs. Burnam’s warm heart could bear. 
For a moment she let his fresh sorrow have its 
way; then she bent forward and put her arm 
around him, just as she might have done with 
Howard. 

“ I know, Charlie,” she said gently, “ nobody 
else can take her place ; but, while you are with 
us, remember that you are our own boy, and are 
as much at home with us as Howard himself And 
now come, if you ’re ready, and get acquainted 
with your cousins, while I see about the lunch.” 

As Charlie went back to the parlor once more, 
he was surprised to find the room deserted and 
the front door slightly open. With a little shiver 
of cold and loneliness, he stepped across the room 
to close the door, and stood still, to gaze in aston- 
ishment at the sight before him. Up the middle 
of the road came two figures, evidently engaged 
in some mad race. The boy he recognized at 
once as being his Cousin Howard ; but who was the 
small Amazon who rushed along at his side, bare- 
headed and with her short, thick hair flying in the 
wind, as she easily kept pace with the longer 
strides of her brother? Surely, this could not be 
Allie, the demure little maid who had met him 


38 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


with such easy, quiet grace ! Charlie knew little 
of girls and their ways ; but he had always looked 
upon them with a certain distrust, as being all- 
absorbed in their fine clothes and their prim de- 
portment. The few he had known in New York 
had done nothing to alter his opinion, and it had 
never before occurred to him as a possibility that 
a young girl could romp and run, and enjoy the 
free, out-of-door life which is the rightful privilege 
of every healthy child. This new revelation was 
quite to his liking, and his astonishment gave place 
to interest and then to delight, as Allie gradually 
outstripped her brother, and came flying up the 
steps far in advance of him, with a triumphant 
shout of laughter, just as her cousin appeared in 
the open doorway, loudly applauding her victory. 

Early that evening Allie and her cousin were 
alone in the parlor, for Mrs. Burnam was putting 
Victor to bed, Mr. Burnam had gone down to his 
offlce for an hour, and Howard had gone out on 
an errand with the Everett boys. The afternoon 
had been devoted to helping Charlie to unpack 
and settle himself in his new quarters ; and over 
this informal occupation their acquaintance had 
made rapid strides, so it was with a sense of duty 
well-performed that Allie curled herself up in the 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 


39 


great easy-chair before the pine knots blazing on 
the andirons, and turned to look at the boy, pacing 
up and down the room. Divested of his long 
ulster, which had called forth Howard’s criticism, 
her cousin $tood before her, dressed, like many 
another boy, in the light brown suit of the period, 
but with a grace of position and pride of car- 
riage which had made him a noticeable lad, even 
in the great city school, where he had only been 
one of scores of well-dressed, well-trained boys. 
Allie studied him for a moment in silence ; then 
she gave a little contented nod to herself, as she 
said interrogatively, — 

“Well, Charlie?” 

“Well?” he responded, as he came to a halt at 
her chair, and, folding his arms on the back, stood 
looking down at her while she raised her face to his. 

“What were you thinking about?” she de- 
manded. “Were you homesick or tired, that 
made you look so sober? ” 

“ I was thinking about New York,” he answered 
candidly; “wondering about some of the fellows 
in our school. They were a jolly set, and I ’d 
like to see them ; but I ’m not homesick a bit. I 
think I ’m going to like it here, when I get used 
to it.” 


40 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ I suppose it does seem very strange to you,” 
mused Allie, as if to herself, while she watched 
the face above her, looking so thoughtful in the 
flickering light. Then she added abruptly, “Come 
round where I can talk to you, Charlie ; I Ve some- 
thing very important to say to you.” 

“ Yes, ma’am,” he answered, but without stir- 
ring from his place. 

“ Come,” she insisted, patting the broad arm of 
her chair with an inviting gesture. “ I want to give 
you your first lesson in Western life; and I can’t 
talk to you half so well, when you ’re just back of 
me. If I can’t watch you, I sha’n’t know when 
you ’re getting vexed and wishing I ’d stop.” 

“All right; fire ahead.” And Charlie moved 
around to her side, where he clasped his hands and 
brought his spectacles to bear upon her with an 
owlish solemnity. 

“ That ’s a very good boy,” said his cousin 
approvingly. Then she continued, in a tone of 
elderly counsel, “ Now, my dear child, I am 
about to say a few words to you which shall be for 
your own good.” 

Oh, I say,” remonstrated Charlie, his dignity 
breaking down all at once ; “ how old are you, 
Allie, — sixty, or seventy-five ? ” 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 


41 


‘‘ You shouldn’t laugh,” returned Allie, shaking 
her head at him reproachfully. “ That’s just the 
way Mrs. Pennypoker talks to Ned and Grant; 
I ’ve heard her, lots of times. But now, truly, I 
wish you ’d be good and listen to me, for I do 
want to tell you something that will be a help to 
you. The people out here are different from those 
you ’ve seen, and the ways aren’t like those farther 
east. I don’t know why ’tis, but they hate to be 
reminded of it, and, when we came here, papa told 
us never to say anything bad about the town, as if 
we didn’t like it, for we ’d get everybody down on 
us. We did like it, though, so we did n’t have to 
fib. But now you ’re here you ’d better just keep 
still about anything that strikes you funny, when 
you ’re off with the boys. Then you can come 
back and talk it over with me, when they aren’t 
round, if you want to ; I don’t mind ; only don’t 
let Howard hear you, for he ’d tell the Everetts. 
See ? That ’s all ; but I thought I ’d warn you.” 

“ You ’re a trump, Allie ; and I ’ll try not to dis- 
grace you,” said Charlie gratefully. “ Of course, 
it seems awfully queer to me ; but I won’t give it 
away, if I can help it. What ’s the matter now? ” 
he demanded, as Allie leaned back in her chair 
and burst into a peal of laughter. 


42 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“I was just thinking how funny ’twas,” she 
answered ; “ only this morning I was telling the 
boys that their slang would shock you, and they 
must drop it ; but here you are, every bit as bad as 
they. I don’t believe •there ’s so much difference 
between Montana and New York, after all.” 

“ ’Tisn’t the place, it ’s boys,” responded 
Charlie sagely. “ They ’re pretty much the same, 
wherever you take them. I think the difference is 
in the girls, and, if you please, I believe I prefer 
the Western ones.” 

Allie flushed rosy red at the unexpected compli- 
ment,. but before she had time to enjoy it, or to 
reply, there came a sudden knock at the dining- 
room door, and Janey’s black face peered in at the 
crack. 

“ Miss Allie, honey,” she said in a wheedling 
tone, as she rolled up her great eyes at her little 
mistress, “ cyarn you get time to write a letter for 
me, bymeby ? ” 

“ I ’ll come out as soon as Mr. Howard gets 
home, Janey,” she answered; then, as the head 
vanished and the door closed, she added to her 
cousin, “ Janey can’t read nor write, so •! havje to 
do all her letters for her. She ’s engaged to marry 
a man in Washington, and she says he ’s ‘ in de 


TO WELCOME THE COMING GUEST. 43 


guv’ment.’ His name is Hamilton Lincoln Corn- 
wallis ; but he lives at number seven and a half 
Goat Alley, so I don’t believe he ’s President yet. 
You ’ve no idea how funny his letters are. Maybe 
she ’ll get you to read one, some day.” 


CHAPTER III. 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 

Mrs. Euphemia Pennypoker belonged to that 
unpleasant type of individuals whose members, 
for lack of specific excellence, are commonly 
spoken of by their friends as “ thoroughly estima- 
ble women.” She possessed all the virtues, but 
none of the graces which make virtue attractive to 
the youthful mind ; and she regulated her daily 
life by a cast-iron code that was as unvarying 
and heartless as the smile which sixty years of 
habit had stamped upon her thin, bloodless lips. 
Mrs. Pennypoker was said to have been hand- 
some in her day, handsome with an austere, cold 
beauty ; but her day was long past, and the only 
remaining trace of her good looks lay in her 
piercing gray eyes, and her long, straight Greek 
nose. The eyes were undimmed by time ; but the 
crow’s-feet had gathered thick about them, and the 
Greek nose was surmounted by a pair of large, 
round eye-glasses, which only served to intensify 
the sternness of the eyes behind them. To the 
44 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 


45 


children around her, there was something awe- 
inspiring in those eye-glasses, and in the broad 
black ribbon which held them suspended about 
her neck. In times of peace, they had the appear- 
ance of being on the watch for some hidden sin ; 
but when occasion for punishment arose, there was 
something positively terrifying in their glare, and 
the culprit longed for his last hour to come, that 
he might escape from their power. 

Dame Nature had been in a generous mood 
when she had endowed Mrs. Pennypoker, for she 
had given her a massive frame and constitution of 
bronze, which made her thoroughly intolerant of 
those unfortunates who were not similarly blessed. 
But, impressive as Mrs. Pennypoker was in most 
respects, there was yet one undignified peculiarity 
which marred the otherwise perfect majesty of her 
appearance. Like Samson, her vulnerable point 
lay in her hair ; or, more properly speaking, in her 
lack of it. The ravages of time had removed a 
part of her dark brown locks, and left an oval bald 
spot, closely resembling the tonsure of a Romish 
priest. This defect was usually covered with an 
elaborate pile of braids and puffs ; but occasion- 
ally the slippery surface of her bald crown and the 
power of gravitation proved too much for her 


46 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


hair-pins, and the whole structure slipped back- 
ward, to reveal a shining expanse of milk-white 
skin, gleaming forth from the dark tresses sur- 
rounding it. Moreover, rumor had been known 
to whisper that there was something peculiar about 
the rich brown hue of Mrs. Pennypoker’s hair; 
that it was remarkable for a person of her age to 
be so free from the silver threads common among 
far younger women; and that, strangest of all, 
she was subject to periodical variations of color, 
her hair turning gray at the ends and then resum- 
ing its original tint, while, incredible as it might 
seem^ the change always appeared at the ends 
nearest her scalp, though the tips of her hairs re- 
tained all their wonted lustre. 

Coming from far-away New England, Mrs. 
Pennypoker was true to the blood of her Puritan 
ancestry. She had in her composition much of 
the stuff of which ' martyrs are made. She could 
have gone to the stake for her opinions ; but she 
could just as cheerfully have turned the tables, and 
piled the fagots high about the misguided heretics 
who ventured to disagree with her own peculiar 
doctrines. Ever on the alert to find out the path 
of duty and to walk in it, she had promptly ac- 
cepted the proposition of her distant cousin, Mr. 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 47 

Everett, to become his housekeeper, after the 
death of his wife ; and, forsaking all her old asso- 
ciations, she had girded herself and her trunks, 
and, with her parrot as her sole companion, she 
had retired to the wilderness to subdue the drag- 
ons of anarchy and chaos which had probably 
entered into the Everett household. 

Her first dragon proved to be a very long-tailed 
one ; and though he was promptly met, he was by 
no means so promptly subdued. An hour after 
her arrival, she had penetrated to the kitchen, 
where she was suddenly confronted byWangKum, 
the shoe-button-eyed Chinaman who had been in 
the service of Mrs. Everett for months before her 
death. In their first interview, Mrs. Penny- 
poker was ignominiously routed and driven from 
the field, for Wang Kum ignored her stony gaze, 
and cheerfully and volubly chattered to her in a 
torrent of Pidgin-English which left her no oppor- 
tunity for reply ; so she withdrew, resolving that 
her first reform should be the removal of Wang 
from office. However, on this question Mr. Ever- 
ett was determined; Wang Kum had been their 
faithful servant, and knew the ways of their house- 
hold ; moreover, he had been devoted to Mrs. 
Everett during her last illness, and in that kitchen 


48 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Wang Kum should stay. Defeated in this main 
object, Mrs. Pennypoker next devoted herself to 
the task of civilization, and waged daily warfare 
with the Chinaman, in her endeavors to convert 
him to American ways and dress, and Calvinistic 
theology. 

“ Old lady heap talkee ; Wang Kum no care,” 
he used to confide to Louise Everett, after an un- 
usually long and tedious fray. “ Wang min’ Miss 
Lou ; old lady too flesh.” 

Four years before this time, when the Blue 
Creek copper mine was opened and the building 
of the great smelter had brought to the creek the 
first settlers of the mining camp, Mr. Everett had 
been made superintendent of the mine, and had 
brought his family out to be with him. Of his 
three children, Louise was now in the first flush 
3f young womanhood, a pretty, graceful blonde of 
twenty, who had been educated in an Eastern 
school until the sudden death of her mother had 
called her home to take charge of the housekeep- 
ing, before Mrs. Pennypoker appeared upon the 
scene, to relieve her of the care, and act as matron 
to watch over her young cousin with an eagle eye. 
For the past few years, Louise had been away 
from home so much of the time that the loss of 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 


49 


her mother fell less heavily upon her than on her 
young brothers, who had been the constant com- 
panions of the bright, pretty little woman who 
had devoted her life to theirs. 

Mrs. Pennypoker was scarcely the person to 
make good their loss; and Ned and Grant would 
have had a lonely life, had it not been for motherly 
Mrs. Burnam, whose heart was large enough to 
take in all the children with whom she came in 
contact. The Everetts were likable boys, too, just 
the companions she would have chosen for Howard 
and Allie : gay and mischievous, as every healthy 
boy should be, but with the high sense of honor 
and firm principle which can only come from a 
good mother and careful home training. Ned, the 
older one, at thirteen was the image of his father, 
with a rich, dark beauty which made him a striking 
contrast to Grant’s light yellow hair and pink and 
white cheeks. Grant was his mother’s own boy, in 
all but his eyes, which were like his father’s, large 
and brown; and he had received his mother’s 
maiden name, just as he had received the features 
and complexion of her family. 

Of all the members of the Everett household. 
Grant was the only one who felt no fear of Mrs. 
Pennypoker. Even his father was far more in 


50 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


subjection to her rule than was his little son. 
Grant had been the first to discover her bald spot 

— which he promptly christened her storm centre 

— and to call Ned’s attention to it; and therein 
lay much of his power over her. Now, whenever 
Mrs. Euphemia threatened to get the better of 
him, he had only to fix his eyes steadily on the 
top of her head, or abstractedly rub his hand 
over his own yellow pate, to cause her to abandon 
her lecture and escape to her mirror, in order to 
assure herself that all was as it should be. 

The Everetts lived a little to the west of the 
Burnam’s, in what was usually spoken of as “ one 
of the old houses,” to distinguish it from the more 
modern structures of brick and boards. This par- 
ticular old house was, in fact, the oldest one in the 
camp, for it had been built by the superintendent 
for his family, when the other inhabitants of the 
place were still living in tents pitched along the 
edge of the creek. Like most of the other houses 
of the town, it was a one-story building, low and 
rambling, with odd wings and projections, which 
had been added to the original square structure 
as the needs of the family demanded. It was 
built of rough-hewn logs, but the front was coated 
with clapboards, in deference to the prevailing 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 


51 


style of architecture, which literally put its best 
foot forward. 

Within, the walls were guiltless of lath or plas- 
ter, but were covered with strips of cotton cloth, 
to which the wall-paper was pasted. At certain 
seasons, this imparted a peculiar effect to the 
rooms, for, in the fierce winter gales, occasional 
breezes would work their way through the cran- 
nies of the wall and cause the paper and its 
cloth background to sway backwards and forwards, 
to the horror of the stranger unused to such 
modes of finish, since the sight of the walls sway- 
ing and wriggling before his eyes could only be 
satisfactorily explained as the result of intoxica- 
tion, or of temporary insanity. The same stranger 
would have stopped short in surprise, on entering 
the Everetts’ clumsy log-house. In spite of its 
unattractive exterior, it was a cosy, luxurious dwell- 
ing, with furniture, draperies and pictures which 
would do credit to any Eastern city house; for 
Mrs. Everett had loved pretty things, and had 
gathered them about her in the hope of making 
home the spot most enjoyable for her children. 

The Everetts were gathered around the table 
for their late dinner, one night in February, soon 
after Charlie’s arrival in Blue Creek. At the head 


52 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


of the table sat Mrs. Pennypoker, who never 
appeared so majestic as when she was presiding 
over the bountifully spread board, for Mrs. Penny- 
poker was what is known as a liberal provider, 
and had a lingering fondness, herself, for the good 
things of this earth. To-night, she was unusually 
benign, for Wang Kum had outdone himself, and 
the soup was the perfection of flavoring, the roast 
done to a turn ; so she could relax her anxious 
scrutiny of the appointments of the table, and 
lend an ear to what Mr. Everett was saying to his 
daughter. 

“ Yes, Mr. Nelson came down to the office to 
see me to-day. It seems he ’s been talking up the 
matter of a boy choir, and he wants Ned and 
Grant, here, to sing in it. He’s going to have 
Howard, and he ’s heard that Charlie sings ; then 
there are about a dozen little German fellows, and 
some men. I told him I ’d no objection, and I ’d 
ask the boys what they thought.” 

“ He said something about it to me, after ser- 
vice last night,” answered Louise, who acted as 
organist at the little Episcopal chapel. “ He said 
he wanted to get his plans all made as soon as he 
could, so we could go to work on the vestments 
and begin training, to have the choir ready to sing 


TIIE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 


53 


at Easter. I told him that both the boys sang, 
but I didn’t know what you ’d say to it.” 

“ I ’m willing,” Mr. Everett was beginning, when 
Mrs. Pennypoker interrupted him. 

** Do you mean,” she asked with icy distinct- 
ness, as she leaned forward over the table to add 
emphasis to her words, “ that you are going to 
let your sons sing in one of those choirs that march 
into church with their night-gowns on, and singsong 
the answers to what the priest says ? ” 

“ Why, yes,” said Mr. Everett, smiling at his 
cousin, in the hope of calming her disgust. “ Yes ; 
that is, if that’s what you call it. The boys both 
have good voices, and it certainly won’t hurt them 
any, for Mr. Nelson knows how to train them 
well.” 

“ Humph ! ” returned Mrs. Pennypoker un- 
compromisingly. “ It ’s my belief that they ’d 
much better go to hear good old Dr. Hornblower, 
and let this flummery alone. Your Nelson man is 
no better than a papist, with his colored windows 
and his chants and all ; and, now he ’s succeeded 
in getting his new chapel, there ’ll be no stopping 
him.” 

“ Just watch the storm centre,” whispered Grant 
to his brother, as Mrs. Pennypoker ended her 


'^4 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

remark with an expressive, but ill-advised shake of 
her head. “ It ’s coming into action fast.” 

“ I am glad you feel satisfied with the doctor,” 
answered Mr. Everett, looking squarely into the 
face of his irate relative. “ He is doubtless a 
good man ; but my wife was a member of Mr. 
Nelson’s church, and her children have always 
been accustomed to going there, so I think they 
would better continue. Another thing I started 
to tell you, Lou,” he went on, as he turned to his 
daughter again, “ I hear that, at last. Blue Creek 
is to have a new doctor. There ’s a young fellow 
from one of the Eastern colleges on his way 
out here to settle. The Fullertons know him, and 
say he ’s a brilliant man. It ’s about time we had 
somebody, for since old Dr. Meacham died, 
nobody’s dared be ill, for fear they ’d die before a 
doctor could get over from Butte.” 

“ And when this one comes, we ’re all going to 
celebrate by being ill ; is that what you mean, 
papa?” Louise asked playfully, as she shook her 
head at Grant, who was stretching up, to peer 
curiously at the top of Mrs. Pennypoker’s head, 
where a pale crescent was gradually appearing and 
waxing wider. “ When ’s he coming? ” 

“ Not for hve or six weeks/’ her father answered ; 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 


55 


“ so you’ll have to keep well for a while longer. 
He’s on his way; but he’s going to visit some 
friends in Omaha and Denver, before he gets 
here.” 

Hullo ! ” exclaimed Ned suddenly. ' 

“ What ’s struck you ? ” asked Grant. 

‘^Nothing; only I was wondering if this could 
be the same man Charlie Mac was telling about. 
He met a young man on the train, papa, who came 
from Chicago to the Bluffs with him. He had next 
section, so they talked some, and he told Charlie 
he was from way back East, and was coming to 
Blue Creek, too. He said he ’d never been here, 
and asked Charlie all manner of questidns about 
the place and all.” 

“ I don’t believe he found out much,” said 
Grant with a giggle. “ Charlie hadn’t any more 
idea than a dead man what ’twas going to be like 
out here.” 

“ No ; but he ’s done pretty well since he came, 
though,” said Ned admiringly. “He’s acted as 
if ’twere just what he ’d always been used to. 
It’s my belief that Allie ’s been coaching him; 
he ’d never get on so well by himself, I know.” 

“ He came pretty near finishing himself, the 
second day he was here, all the same,” added 


56 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Grant. “ Did you hear about it, papa? Nobody ’d 
told him to look out a little, till he was used to 
this air. He started out to run, and it used him 
up in no time, so he turned blue-white, and nearly 
dropped. He’s taking it slowly, now; and is get- 
ting into it by little and little.” 

“By the way,” asked Louise suddenly; “what 
has become of Marjorie? I haven’t seen her for 
a week.” 

“ She ’s under punishment,” replied Ned lugu- 
briously; “and we haven’t any of us seen her 
since the afternoon we were out skating, just before 
Charlie came. I don’t know exactly what ’tis ; 
but it must be something pretty bad, for her 
mother to keep her away so long.” 

“ Marjorie is always getting herself into trouble, 
it seems to me,” said Mr. Everett, laughing indul- 
gently as he spoke, for he had a genuine liking for 
this active, flyaway young girl, whose heart was as 
true and kind as her impulses were hasty and rash. 

“So she is,” returned Ned defensively; “but 
she flies into everything head first, and without 
thinking much about it ; and then she goes into 
the depths of gunny-sacks and cinders afterwards, 
when it ’s too late to do any good.” 

“ That isn’t a very helpful kind of penitence,” 


THE EVERETT PIOUSEIIOLD. 


57 


remarked Mrs. Pennypoker, looking up from her 
plate. 

It ’s a very natural one, I am afraid,” said 
Mr. Everett charitably. “ Then Marjorie hasn’t 
seen this new friend of yours? ” 

“ No, not yet,” Grant answered. “ It ’s a shame, 
too, for she was in a hurry to get a look at him. 
He is a first-rate fellow, really, papa; and doesn’t 
seem a bad tenderfoot, even to old-timers like Ned 
and me. What do you want, Wang? ” he added, 
as Wang Kum’s head appeared at the door. 

“ Mas’ How’d, he here,” announced Wang briefly. 
“ He no come in ; wan’ you.” And he vanished, 
followed by the boys, who hurried out in search of 
their friend. 

In the mean time, at the Burnam’s a short con- 
versation was taking place, which would have en- 
lightened the boys on the subject of Charlie’s 
easy adaptability to his new surroundings. It was 
his habit to practise for an hour after dinner each 
night, and Allie was usually beside him. She 
loved music as well as did her cousin, and was 
content to settle herself on a wide sofa drawn up 
beside the piano, sometimes with a book, but 
more often idly leaning back against the cushions, 
with her eyes fixed on her cousin’s face, as he 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


58 

gradually lost all consciousness of her presence in 
his enjoyment of the music. Young boy as he 
was, and a normal, healthy boy, too, Charlie had 
undoubted genius in this one direction, and added 
to a rare talent for music the skill gained by five 
years of study under the best master that the city 
could afford, until, both in subject and method, his 
playing was far beyond what one would naturally 
expect in a lad of his years. It had been a great 
delight to him to find that Allie cared for his 
music, and could understand the varying moods 
which he tried to express in his hours of practice. 
The two cousins really had their best times in 
these nightly visits, for when his regular time of 
practice was over, Charlie would still linger at the 
piano, playing in a soft, fitful undertone, while 
they discussed the events of the day, or planned 
for the morrow’s program. The week they had 
been together had quickly ripened their first lik- 
ing for each other into a close friendship ; and 
after a day of out-of-door frolics with the other 
boys, Charlie had learned to look forward to the 
time of talking it over with Allie, and listening to 
her merry, whimsical comments on what they had 
done and ^een. But, on this particular night, 
Charlie was bound on gaining information. 


THE EVERETT HOUSEHOLD. 


59 


“ If you please, ma ’am,” he began, as he let 
his hands fall from the keys, and turned to face 
his cousin. 

“Oh — yes — what? ” responded Allie, gradu- 
ally rousing herself from her story. 

“ If you please, I ’d like to ask a question,” he 
said meekly. “ I ’m in want of a few pointers.” 

“Well?” and Allie was all attention, as she 
smiled up at her cousin’s perplexed face. 

“In the first place, how much is a bit?” de- 
manded Charlie. 

“ Twelve and a half cents,” she answered 
promptly. “ Why? ” 

“ I don’t know as I dare tell,” Charlie replied, 
with a shamefaced laugh. 

“ Go on,” urged Allie curiously. “ I ’m sure it ’s 
something funny, and you know I never tell tales.” 

“ Well, if you ’ll promise, true blue. You see, 
I wanted some new rubbers, for mine were all full 
of holes, and I was tired of going round with wet 
feet ; so I went down town this morning and tried 
to buy some. The clerk said they were six bits, 
but I didn’t know how much that was, and didn’t 
want to say so, so I told him that I didn’t quite 
like the kind, and went off.” 

“ You ’ve a great mind, Charlie,” said Allie 


6o 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


approvingly. “ Everybody here counts by bits ; 
two make a quarter ; and then, you know, we don’t 
have any pennies here, nothing smaller than a five- 
cent piece. Remember that, and don’t offer any- 
body a penny, even if it ’s a beggar. Go on ; 
what next? ” 

That ’s about all, for this time,” he answered. 
“ Oh, no ; there ’s one thing more. What ’s that 
queer place down south of here, all fenced in, and 
with little bits of log cabins scattered around as if 
they’d just been dropped out of a pepper-box?’^ 

“ That ’s Chinatown,” said Allie, laughing at the 
accuracy of the description. “We must get papa 
to take us there, some day. But now I want to 
tell you something. You know Marjorie Fisher?” 

“ Can’t say I do,” returned Charlie flippantly. 

“ Yes, I know what you mean,” interrupted 
Allie ; “ but you know who she is,^ and you want 
to know her, herself, for she ’s great fun. She ’s 
been — busy, this last week ; but I had a note 
from her to-night, and she wants us all to come 
down there to-morrow afternoon for a candy-pull. 
I told her we ’d go, so she ’s going to stop here 
after school and wait for you and Howard, and 
we’ll all go, on together The Everetts will be 
there, too, and we shall be sure to have a good 
time ; we always do at Marjorie’s.” 


CHAPTER IV. 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 

The bees and the wasps were there. 

The old queen bee, with fiendish glee, 

Was pulling a hornet’s hair. 

The monkey thought ’t was rough ; 

He took a pinch of snuff, 

And then the bees began to sneeze. 

And left, ” — 

sang a clear, boyish voice outside, and the next 
moment steps were heard on the piazza. 

“Who’s that?” asked Marjorie, glancing up 
from the skating cap, which, with infinite pains, 
she was crocheting, in thoughtful anticipation of 
Howard’s birthday, the following summer. 

“Charlie; don’t you know his voice?” re- 
sponded Allie, who was sitting with one foot tucked 
under her, while she sewed the buttons on her 
shoe. 

“ How should I ? I ’ve never heard him sing,” 
answered Marjorie. 

“You will soon, for he and Ned are to lead the 
new choir at Easter. Charlie seems to be feeling 
unusually comf’y to-day,” said his cousin, as the 

6i 


62 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


boy came in at the side door opening into the 
dining-room, and walked over to the corner where 
they were sitting, curled up by the stove. 
“Where ’d you get that pretty song? ” she added. 

“ Made it up, of course ; didn’t you know I was 
a poet? ” inquired Charlie blandly, while he nodded 
to Marjorie, and then pulled off his glasses to wipe 
away the steam condensed on them by the sudden 
change from the cold outer air to the heat within 
the house. 

“ I never should have supposed so,” Marjorie 
answered, laughing. “You look altogether too 
plump and well-fed.” 

“ Can’t help it ; you can’t tell by looking at a 
toad how far he ’ll hop. I wrote it ‘ all my lone,’ 
as Vic says,” responded Charlie. “ I ’m very proud 
of it, too.” 

“ Sit down and amuse us,” said Allie, hospitably 
drawing a chair nearer the fire. 

“ No, thank you ; I ’m engaged, and must be 
going,” returned Charlie, with a 'lofty air of im- 
portance which was not without its effect upon his 
cousin. 

“What’s going on? ” she asked curiously. “ I 
told Marjorie that you acted unusually set up over 
something.” 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 


63 

“ I met Mr. Everett just now, and he told me 
that, if I ’d get over to the smelter at three, he ’d 
let me go down the mine this afternoon.” 

“ O Charlie, take us with you,” begged his 
cousin, starting up, forgetful of the fact that she 
was still without one shoe. “ I Ve never been, 
and I do want to go, so much.” 

“ Can’t ; girls aren’t invited,” said Charlie heart- 
lessly. “ He did say that he ’ll take us all at once, 
though, as soon as they put the cage in, next 
month ; but he doesn’t like to take but one at a 
time, on this thing they ’re running now. I wish 
you could go, for ’t would be lots more fun.” 

“ ’T isn’t much to go down,” said Marjorie, with 
an air of superior wisdom. “ It ’s dark and slip- 
pery, and not any too clean ; and you have to get 
out of the way of something or other, most every 
minute.” 

“ Yes, I know,” said Allie ; “ it ’s all very well to 
say that, when you ’ve been ; but I never had a 
chance to go. I was ill the time Howard went ; 
and now I shall be the only one left that hasn’t 
been down. I hope you ’ll have an awfully good 
time, though, Charlie, and not get lost, or smashed, 
or anything else that ’s bad, while you ’re under- 
ground. Isn’t it growing colder?” she added, as 


64 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Charlie turned up the collar of his ulster and sci- 
entifically pinched the edges of his ears, prepara- 
tory to starting out once more. 

“ ’T isn’t exactly balmy,” he answered. “ Want 
anything, before I go ? ” And a moment later the 
door closed behind him. 

“You’re a lucky girl, Allie,” said Marjorie, 
while she watched the figure striding along down 
the road. “ Even Ned says he ’s the jolliest fellow 
in town, all but Howard.” 

“ Yes, ’t is good to have him here,” said Allie 
contentedly, as she slipped on her shoe and 
stooped to button it up. “He’s just as good- 
natured and nice a^ he can be ; and I think I like 
him better than any boy I ever saw, except How- 
ard, even if he hasn’t been here quite a month.” 

“Not better than Ned?” Marjorie exclaimed 
incredulously. 

“Well — no — I don’t know,” said Allie, waver- 
ing a little. “ Ned ’s just about as near right as 
he can be ; but I believe, aftei^ all, I ’d rather live 
in the house with Charlie. Ned might be a little 
too peppery for a steady die^.” 

“ I never thought you ’d turn a cold shoulder to 
Ned,” said Marjorie, shaking her head over Allie’s 
defection. “ Charlie ’s very nice and gentlemanly. 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 


65 


and all that, but I don’t believe he has half Ned’s 
pluck. Do you remember the time he sprained 
his wrist falling off his pony, way up the gulch, and 
wouldn’t tell of it till we were home again? I 
don’t think Charlie Mac would stand that kind of 
thing long. There ’s no special reason he shouldn’t 
be agreeable ; we ’ve all of us tried our best to 
make him have a good time.” 

“ Charlie isn’t a baby, though,” returned Allie, 
valiantly rising to the defence of her cousin. 
“You think, just because he knows more about 
music than ’most anybody else in the camp, and 
looks and acts as' if he came from a city, that he ’s 
more than half girl. But I ’ll tell you he isn’t, 
Marjorie, and if anything came to try him, you ’d 
find he ’d come up to the mark every bit as well 
as Ned. I don’t know as I care to have anything 
happen, ^though, just for the sake of proving it.” 

In the mean time, the subject of the conversa- 
tion was walking rapidly in the direction of the 
smelter, whose pile of huge red buildings lay a lit- 
tle to the southeast of the town, across the creek 
and close to the foot of the mountain which tow- 
ered above it sheer and straight. A few hundred 
feet down the canon below it, and a little farther 
back from the creek, was the shaft leading down 


66 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


into the mine, and beside it the engine house 
with the machinery needful for raising the ore, 
and for carrying the miners ' to and from the cross- 
cuts, hundreds of feet below. 

Though he had often been to the smelter with 
Ned and Grant, it was the first time that Charlie 
had visited the place alone. He felt very small 
and insignificant, as he stepped inside the enclos- 
ure, with its array of great buildings, mammoth 
chimneys whence rose the smoke from countless 
and undying fires, and its throng of busy workers. 
Then he entered the little building which served 
as superintendent’s office, and id a moment the 
whir and clang of the outer life was left behind 
him, and he found himself in a quiet, pleasant 
room, with only a collection of maps and photo- 
graphs and specimens of ores, to tell of the vast 
business centering there. As the boy shyly came 
in at the door, Mr. Everett rose to receive him. 

“ O Charlie, you ’re just on the minute, and 
I ’m all ready for you,” he said, glancing up at 
the clock. 

“ Somers, I ’m going down the shaft with this 
young man ; if anybody wants me, tell him I ’ll 
be here at five.” And, putting on his overcoat, 
he went away, followed by Charlie, who was filled 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 6/ 

with an eager enthusiasm at the idea of going so 
far towards the center of the earth. 

“ I ’m sorry,” Mr. Everett said, as they followed 
a path winding in and out among the buildings, 
and then came out on the main road leading to 
the shaft; “ I ’m sorry that we haven’t time to take 
in the smelter, too, to-day ; but you can go there 
almost any time. Any of the men in the office 
can take you through it, as well as I can ; but I 
don’t let strangers go into the mine unless I ’m 
with them. We ’re going to put in a new cage, 
next month,” he added casually, as they drew 
near the shaft. 

‘‘What’s that for?” asked Charlie, to whom 
cages and their construction were a mystery. 

“ Safer, and can carry more,” answered his host 
concisely. “ These cross-heads and buckets are 
slow work. A two-deck cage will do the same 
amount in much less time, and there ’s no fear 
of their catching, as these do sometimes.” 

As he spoke, they paused to look at the gear- 
ing of windlass and cable at the mouth of the shaft ; 
then Charlie cautiously approached the opening. 
After all he had heard of mines and shafts, it was 
rather disappointing to him to see only a great, 
square hole leading down into the depths of the 


68 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


earth. What he had expected, it would be hard 
to say; but it is certain that his disappointment 
deepened when, after three strokes from the engi- 
neer’s bell, the hoisting engine suddenly started 
into life, and, out from the darkness of the shaft, 
there slowly emerged into view an ungainly con- 
trivance of four great timbers, arranged in a hol- 
low square and hung on a cable, which passed 
freely through openings in the upper and lower 
timbers, to carry a huge bucket fastened to its 
end, while a black-faced miner stood in the bucket, 
much in the attitude of a jack-in-the-box after the 
spring is loosed. 

“ That ’s what we call the cross-head, above,” ex- 
plained Mr. Everett. It slides free on tfie rope, 
and rests on the fastening of the bucket. Now 
you see how we bring up the ore.” 

“ But do we have to go down in that thing?” 
inquired Charlie, drawing back in disgust, as he 
surveyed the grimy, dusty bucket before him. 

“ Not unless you prefer it,” Mr. Everett an- 
swered, laughing. “ It ’s against rules to ride in it ; 
and anyway I usually go on the cross-head, myself, 
for the bucket reminds me too much of Simple 
Simon. Step on here,” he added, as the crude 
elevator sank down until the upper beam was on a 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 


level with the surface of the ground. “ Now, if 
you just hold on to the rope, you’re iall right. 
Let us go sjowly, Joe,” he went on, to the \^aiting 
engineer ; I want to take a look at the shafts as 
we go down. We’ll try the seven-hundred level 
to-day.” 

A moment later, they began to sink away from 
the light above them, while the opening at the 
mouth of the shaft grew smaller and smaller to 
their eyes, and their lamps only cast a sickly, 
uncertain light on the walls beside them. They 
went down slowly, so slowly, that, as soon as he 
had had time to accustom himself to the new sen- 
sation, Charlie had plenty of opportunity to ex- 
amine the walls. For the most part, they were 
roughly cased with boards and surrounded at in- 
tervals by the massive collar-timbers, projecting 
ten or twelve inches inside the boards. At each 
side of the shaft were the heavy upright guides, 
running from top to bottom and serving to keep 
in place the cross-head, which was fitted to move 
easily between them. Down, down they went, for 
what seemed to the boy a limitless distance. 
They had passed a great square chamber, opening 
into a long, lighted corridor which Mr. Everett had 
told him were the station and cross-cut at the four- 


70 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


hundred level, and still they were sinking. All at 
once they came to a sudden stop, and the next 
instant Charlie felt the rope he was holding slowly 
drawing down through his hands. Mr. Everett 
gave a quick exclamation. 

“ Let go the rope ! ” he commanded abruptly. 

“ I ’m perfectly willing,” answered Charlie, laugh- 
ing, as he rubbed his tingling palms. “ What ’s up, 
anyway? We don’t seem to be anywhere in par- 
ticular.” 

“We’re caught a little,” replied Mr. Everett 
quietly. “ You needn’t be frightened, for it’s hap- 
pened before. All is, the cross-head has caught, 
and the bucket is going down without us, and tak- 
ing the rope with it. Have you a steady head ? ” 

“ I s’pose so,” said Charlie lightly, for, in his 
ignorance of mines, he had no idea of the possible 
danger of his position. 

“Very well; can you turn around and step 
down on the beam that’s just below us? ” returned 
Mr. Everett, still speaking in the same calm voice, 
though with the brevity of a captain giving his 
orders on a field of battle. “ If you can, do it, 
and then put your arm around the back of the 
guide there. So ; that ’s all right.” 

In another moment, he had followed Charlie, 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 


71 


and taken his place beside him on the other side of 
the guide, where he showed the boy how to grasp 
the timber in such a way that the cross-head, com- 
ing up, should not touch his arm. That done, he 
breathed a sigh of relief. 

“ There ! ” he said ; “ now we ’re safe for the 
time being. The next question is : how are we 
going to get out of this trap ? ” 

“Why couldn’t we stay on the cross-head?” 
asked Charlie, as it began to move slowly away 
from the spot where it had lodged. 

“Just that reason,” returned Mr. Everett, with a 
motion of his head towards the clumsy frame which, 
once loosed, went sliding away down the rope after 
the bucket. “ Though you may not have known 
it, young man, you were never in a much more 
dangerous place than you were five minutes ago ; 
for, as soon as it could get free, the cross-head was 
going to crash down on top of the bucket, with 
force enough to kill anybody that happened to be 
on it. I knew ’t would go, sooner or later; but I 
didn’t feel so sure that we could get off in time.” 

“ Then it ’s done it before ?” asked Charlie, in no 
wise moved by the knowledge of his past danger, 
but, boy-like, rather enjoying the novelty of his 
position, half way down the shaft of the mine, and 


72 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


lodged like a fly on the wall, with only a narrow 
beam between himself and a fall of four or five 
hundred feet. 

“ Once,” answered Mr. Everett, amused, in spite 
of his anxiety, by the boy’s coolness. It killed 
four men on the cross-head, and the one in the 
bucket ; but they have such accidents in the other 
mines often enough, so we know about what the 
chances are. That ’s one reason we ’re going to 
put in a cage. Now,” he went on, resuming his 
tone of authority, “ don’t you try to move, and, 
above all, don’t look down. I ’m going to get 
round to the other side, where I can reach the bell- 
rope, and signal the engineer to bring up the cross- 
head again.” 

“ Not walk around on this beam ! ” exclaimed 
Charlie, as his interest changed to genuine alarm, 
for he realized that such an attempt was a very dif- 
ferent matter from standing quiet and holding on 
by the upright timber between them. 

“There ’s no other way,” Mr. Everett answered, 
as he started on his perilous journey. “ I can’t 
reach to signal, from this side, and they never 
would find us without. We can’t very well stay 
here, so that seems to be the only thing I can do. 
You needn’t b^ alarmed, my boy/’ he added 



“He cautiously moved away a few inches along the beam.” 
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ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 


73 


kindly, as he saw that the lad was now thoroughly 
frightened for his safety. “ I am used to all these 
ins and outs, and know about what I can do, even 
if I never happened to get caught just here before. 
We miners get to be half monkeys, and can hang 
on where most men would fall.” 

He cautiously moved away a few inches along 
the beam ; then he turned back to add one parting 
caution. 

“ Remember,” he said, “ and don’t try to look 
down, even if you think you hear the cross-head 
coming up again. If you do, you are likely to get 
dizzy and fall.” 

How long it took for Mr. Everett to creep around 
the shaft, neither he nor Charlie ever knew. To 
them both, the moments seemed long, but to Mr. 
Everett, in particular, they were like hours, for he 
realized so keenly all the danger of their position, 
and felt the added responsibility for the young boy 
in his care. Inch by inch, step by step, he worked 
his way forward, until at length he reached the op- 
posite guide, and felt the signal cord between his 
fingers. Then he knew that all trouble was ended. 

One, two, three ! rang out the engineer’s bell. 

The engineer was perplexed. He had been 
lowering the bucket more and more slowly, and 


74 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


still there had reached him no summons to stop, 
although his dial told him that the cross-head must 
be far below the seven-hundred level. And now 
came the summons to raise slowly, when he was 
sure that it was near the level of no station. What 
was the matter? It was evident that there was 
some trouble. 

Slowly the engine drew up the bucket. It had 
passed the six-hundred level, then the five, and 
was now half way to the four-hundred, when the 
bell rang again, a single stroke this time, the order 
to stop. The engine was left motionless for some 
moments, while the engineer, with an anxious face, 
stood awaiting a fresh signal. He knew that some- 
thing was wrong, and that it must concern the 
superintendent, since he had been the last man to 
go down. He spoke a few quick words to his 
assistant, and in a moment more a little crowd 
had gathered at the mouth of the shaft, just as the 
bell sounded again, three strokes. 

Standing once more on the cross-head, Mr. Eve- 
rett and Charlie could feel the man’s excitement 
in the very motion of their tiny platform, as, obe- 
dient to the engine, it rose a little, then stopped, 
then rose again, as if feeling its way over an 
uncertain course. So they went on till the four- 


ON THE CROSS-HEAD. 


75 


hundred level was below them; then the engine 
quickened its action. Little by little the tiny dot 
above them broadened, and turned to a wide disk 
of blue sky; and their lamps dwindled to a pale 
yellow before the clear light of day, as the cross- 
head, with its living freight, slowly came up into 
the bright air, amid the shouts of the men who 
stood waiting to receive it. 

“Father said Joe was badly rattled,” Ned told 
Charlie, that night, on their way to a choir re- 
hearsal. “ He was sure ’twas all up with you, and 
came near losing his head, so he couldn’t run the 
engine, or answer a signal.” 

“ I didn’t suppose ’t was as bad as that,” re- 
turned Charlie. “ I didn’t much like your father’s 
having to walk round on that beam, or whatever 
you call it, but I thought the rest was good fun.” 

“ I told father that I didn’t believe you knew 
enough to be scared,” said Ned, with masculine 
frankness. “ He was talking, all dinner-time, about 
the way you kept cool and didn’t make a fuss. 
Father was frightened, himself; he’s never been 
in such a fix before, with all he ’s had to do with 
mines, and he says he’s going to hurry now, to 
get that cage put in before they get into any more 
scrapes. But I just wish I ’d been down there with 


76 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


you,” he added enviously. “It’s ever so much 
more fun than ’t is to go straight down, without 
any hitches.” 

“ I ’ll wait till I ’ve tried both, before I make up 
my mind,” responded Charlie, as they reached the 
door of the chapel, and turned to wait for Howard 
and Grant to overtake them. 


CHAPTER V. 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 

Three weeks had passed since Charlie’s unsuc- 
cessful attempt to explore the inside of a mine, and 
now the last of March had come. Already the 
boy had begun to feel as much at home with his 
cousins and in the mining camp, as if he had always 
lived in Blue Creek. Had the change from his old 
surroundings been less abrupt and marked, he 
might have had occasional twinges of homesick- 
ness ; but everything about him was so new and 
strange, and so full of interest, that it left him no 
opportunity to mourn for his former life, save 
when the memory of his mother and of his loss of 
her came fresh upon him, to bring him an hour of 
keen sorrow. And now, as the weeks went on, 
although he never forgot her, still he learned to 
turn to his aunt for a sympathy and guidance 
which in a measure replaced the love that his 
mother had lavished upon him ; while, on her side, 
Mrs. Burnam soon came to look on him quite as 
her own boy, and daily rejoiced in the close inti- 
77 


78 


IN BLUE CREEK CAIION. 


macy which had sprung up between Charlie and 
his cousins. 

The time had been as busy as it was happy. In 
the absence of any good schools in the camp, 
Howard and the Everett boys studied under the 
supervision of Mr. Nelson, who gave up his morn- 
ings to them; and Charlie had joined them the 
week after he reached Blue Creek. Marjorie and 
Allie, too, went every morning to have a few simple 
lessons from the widow of one of Mr. Everett’s 
former clerks, — a gentle, low-voiced Southern 
woman who, left alone to make her own way in 
this new country, was glad to help support herself 
by taking occasional private pupils. Accordingly, 
at a little before nine o’clock every morning, the 
procession of six formed in front of the Everetts 
and marched down the street for half a mile, where 
they separated, to go to their different tutors for 
three or four hours of work. 

The unvarying program of the morning was 
followed by a hasty lunch ; and, after that, there 
were few afternoons when the children did not 
meet. There were rare hours on the ice, when the 
skating was good ; there was coasting such as 
Charlie had never dreamed of before, for in a 
country where all the land stood up on edge, as 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 


79 


Grant expressed it, and where fences were un- 
known, it was easy to find the long, smooth slopes 
which are the delight of every owner of a good 
sled. Best of all, to Charlie’s mind, were the long 
afternoons of running on snow-shoes, when they 
explored the canon far to the north and south, or 
penetrated the deep, narrow gulch at the west of 
the camp. This last sport was especially delight- 
ful to the boy, for it gave him a wild sense of 
exhilaration to go sliding and scuffling along over 
three or four feet of snow, or coast lazily down the 
tiny hillocks in his path ; and, under the instruc- 
tions of his cousins, he quickly became skilled in 
the use of his runners, until he could easily hold 
his place at the head of the party, or turn a sharp 
corner without treading on his own or his neigh- 
bor’s heels. 

All this was excellent fun while it lasted, but far 
too soon came the time of melting snows, when 
skates and sleds and snow-shoes all had to be laid 
aside to wait for another winter. It had been a 
season of exceptionally deep snow, and the firm, 
hard crust lasted far past its usual time for thaw- 
ing. Then came the chinook, the warm south 
wind, which eats away the . accumulated snow of 
months in as many days; and the great white 


8o 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


banks first grew porous, and then slowly sank 
away, while the water ran in streams along the 
streets, or lingered in still pools far under the un- 
broken crust, waiting to drench the unwary passer- 
by who should venture to set foot upon their 
treacherous covering. 

It was the afternoon before Easter, and Louise 
Everett was just preparing to start for the chapel, 
to help try the vestments on the boys of the new 
choir. She had lingered in the doorway for a 
moment to watch her brothers, who had gone on 
before her, laughing and shouting as they floun- 
dered along, now walking a few steps on top of 
the snow, now suddenly sinking down, up to the 
waist, as they chanced to find a spot where 
the Chinook had done more rapid work. As she 
looked after them, she saw, crossing the road, one 
of the stray cows that wandered about the town. 
The ungainly animal came slowly along, turning 
this way and that, in search of a firmer footing, 
until all at once her hind legs plunged down into 
a hole, and the poor creature was left sitting bolt 
upright and staring stupidly about her, as if in 
astonishment at her unwonted position. Louise 
laughed at the absurd picture, but her heart failed 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 8 1 

her a little when she thought of the long walk in 
store for her. 

I Ve a great mind not to go,” she said to her- 
self; ‘‘the walking is so bad, and they don’t really 
need me. I wish I ’d sent the bui^dle down by the 
boys.” 

But she turned away and went to her room to 
put on her hat and jacket, for it was never her 
habit to fail to keep an engagement, and she had 
promised to be at the chapel that afternoon. 

Perhaps it was the special providence supposed 
to watch over those who are doing their duty, 
perhaps it was because her light, quick steps made 
little impression on the snow ; but more than two 
thirds of her walk was over, and the crust had not 
once given way beneath her. She was within 
sight of the chapel, now, but before she reached 
it, she must cross the small, open square, where 
the two main streets of the town came together. 
It was only fifteen or twenty yards, at most, but 
it lay lower than the ground about it, and the 
snow showed dark patches, here and there, as if 
the water had gathered below, and was trying to 
force its way to the surface. Louise glanced 
doubtfully at the square ; but there was no other 
way she could take, and there were fresh foot- 


82 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


prints leading across it, showing that some one had 
been just before her. Moreover, she was late, and 
there was no time to be lost. With her skirts 
gathered closely about her, and the great bundle 
grasped in her other hand, she cautiously started 
forward, testing the ground at every step, before 
trusting her weight upon it. Slowly and carefully 
she went on, and was just congratulating herself 
upon her success, when — fwsch ! There was a 
sound of crunching and gurgling, and her left foot 
plunged down through the snow, into six inches of 
water beneath, with a shock that threw the bundle 
from her hand, and jolted her hat over her eyes. 
With a smothered groan of mortification, she 
scrambled up to a solid footing once more, while 
she thrust back her hat, and gave a hasty glance 
over her shoulder, to assure herself that no one 
was in sight. 

Not a human being was visible, except one man 
who was turning a distant corner. For so much, 
at least, she could be thankful. But it was plain 
that a further advance in that direction was impos- 
sible, and that she must beat a retreat. Accord- 
ingly, she picked up her bundle and turned to 
retrace her steps, moving with even greater cau- 
tion than before, and stepping only in her 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 83 

previous tracks. However, the strain of one 
crossing was all that the weakened crust could 
bear, and the third step let her down again, far 
into the cold snow-water below, while her hat 
took a fresh lurch, this time to one side, and two 
or three hairpins flew from her glossy yellow 
braids. Her situation was fast becoming tragic ; 
but Louise gathered herself up anew and turned 
to the right, only to plunge in deeper than before ; 
to the left, to meet with the same fate. Desper- 
ately she tried one spot after another. Now 
painfully scrambling to an insecure footing on 
top of the crust, now violently descending into 
the depths again, until the snow about her was 
marked thick with deep, round holes, and her 
feet were drenched and well-nigh frozen with the 
icy water which trickled up and down inside her 
shoes, as she lifted now her toes and now her 
heels from the horizontal. 

“ Pardon me, madam, but you seem to be in 
trouble. Can I assist you ? ” inquired a courteous 
voice behind her. 

Slowly and painfully Louise turned around in 
her miniature well. Then she blushed to the 
roots of her hair. Ten feet away from her, on 
the outer edge of the square, stood a stranger. 


84 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


who was watching her with"* an air of respectful 
sympathy, which was entirely out of harmony 
with the amused twinkle of his gray eyes. One 
quick glance told the girl that the stranger was 
young and undeniably good-looking; then her 
eyes dropped to the bundle in her hand, as she 
answered, — 

“ Thank you, but I ’m caught here, and can’t 
seem to find a spot that will bear me. Don’t 
trouble yourself; I shall get out in a moment. 
Oh, don’t try to come here ! ” she added hastily, 
as he made a motion as if to go nearer her. “ If 
you do, you will never get out.” 

The stranger paused doubtfully and looked at 
her again. There was a tone of good-breeding in 
her voice, and, as he came nearer, he saw that she 
was pretty, with a delicate, refined beauty which 
was not in keeping with her great bundle, her 
bedraggled appearance, and the hat cocked rak- 
ishly over one ear, above the drooping braids of 
yellow hair. At first sight, he had taken her for 
a pretty servant, out in search of a new place; 
but now he realized his mistake, and offered her 
a mental apology for his error. 

“ Perhaps I can tear a board or two off from 
that fence over there,” he suggested, after a 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 


85 


fresh survey of the field. “ If you can stay there 
for a few minutes, I ’ll be back with some of them, 
and make a bridge.” 

In spite of herself, Louise laughed at the ab- 
surdity of her plight. 

Stay here ! ” she echoed ; “ I wish I could do 
anything else. But,” she demurred, “ I am afraid 
you will get into trouble, too.” 

But the stranger had already gone. A moment or 
two later, he was back again, with two long boards 
under his arm, as he picked his way along towards 
the young woman to whose rescue he had so val- 
iantly devoted himself. Once back at his old 
station, he dropped one of the boards on the snow, 
pushed it towards her, tested its strength, and 
then walked the length of it, in order to place the 
other board in position. This second bridge 
brought him to her side. 

“ Now,” he said gravely, as he bent forward and 
held out his hand, “ let me take the bundle first.” 

Obeying him as implicitly as a child might have 
done, Louise handed him the great bundle the 
ragged corners of which bore unmistakable signs of 
her recent adventure, and he carefullyconveyed it to 
a place of safety. Then he returned to the spot 
where she was standing in a sort of open pool, 


86 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


which was growing wider and deeper with her 
every motion. 

“ Please take hold of my hand,” he said, with the 
same quiet courtesy which he might have shown 
in asking her for a waltz, though he pressed his 
lips firmly together, to keep back the smile which 
was trembling there. “ Now, can you step up on 
the end of this board?” 

For a moment Louise hesitated. The step was 
a long one, and, in her soaked condition, she had 
lost all her wonted elasticity of motion. However, 
something in the stranger’s face made her feel that 
it was best for her to obey, with as few words as 
possible ; so she mustered all her strength, made a 
violent effort, and scrambled up to the end of the 
board, striking it with a force which sent it swing- 
ing far to the left. For one instant she balanced 
herself upon her slippery foothold ; then she fell 
backward with a suddenness that carried her 
rescuer with her, and they both plunged head fore- 
most down into the gray pool below, just as Grant 
and Ned came out at the chapel door, to look for 
their missing sister. 

As a general rule, there was but little observance 
of Sunday in Blue Creek. To the Eastern mind, it 
seemed strange to pass along the busy streets and 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 


87 


see the carpenters hard at work upon a new house, 
or to listen to the clicking of the billiard balls in 
the wide-open rooms. In such a community, 
church-going was not a popular way of spending 
the time; but, on the next day, the little chapel 
was filled to overflowing with the throng that had 
gathered to hear the new choir. It was Easter 
evening, and the bright lights shone down on the 
masses of flowers on the altar and the white robes 
of the boys in the chancel, and on the closely- 
packed congregation below. Pipe organs and boy 
choirs were rare in the region, and the people of 
Blue Creek looked upon these as the means of 
furnishing an entertainment both novel and inex- 
pensive ; so it was to a large and varied audience 
that Mr. Nelson had the pleasure of preaching his 
Easter sermon. Aside from the regular attendants 
of the chapel, there were groups of rough miners 
alone and with their families, who were rarely to 
be found in any church; while, in the foremost 
rank, sat Wang Kum and a dozen intimate 
friends, their very pigtails waggling with sup- 
pressed excitement and admiration, as they looked 
about the pretty chancel and listened to the voices 
of the boys. Mr. Nelson’s glance rested upon 
them for a moment, then passed on down the 


88 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


middle aisle, to one of the rear pews, where a 
stranger was standing, listening to the anthem with 
evident enjoyment. 

He was a tall, well-built man of thirty, with 
bright brown hair and mustache, and his eyes 
showed large and gray when he raised them, now 
and then, as Charlie MacGregor’s voice rang out 
above the rest of the choir. He appeared to be 
acquainted with no one there, for he had come in 
alone, and without making a sign of recognition 
to any one as he was ushered to his seat. Only 
twice had he seemed to be roused from his quiet 
repose of manner. When the first notes of the 
organ met his ear, he had glanced in that direc- 
tion; and any one watching him closely might 
have seen him give a sudden start of surprise, 
while the color rose to his cheeks, as his eyes 
rested upon the organist. Once again, in the pro- 
cessional, he had started up with a quick smile of 
recognition, when he looked back at the advancing 
line of boys, and saw Charlie leading them ; and 
he had bent towards the aisle to watch the lad, as 
he passed on, unconscious of the faces around him, 
in his happiness at once more being in his old 
place, at the head of a choir. 

But the service was over, and the choir were 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 89 

coming towards him again, their voices ringing 
clear and high in the refrain of Le Jeune’s Jeru- 
salem^ the Golden. Just as the leaders reached the 
stranger, there came a pause between the verses, 
and Charlie raised his eyes to meet the gray ones 
which were watching him so intently. Then his 
whole face brightened, and he smiled and nodded 
in glad recognition, as they went on down the aisle 
and out into the tiny choir-room. 

The young man moved aside to let the other 
occupants of the pew pass out into the aisle; 
then he stepped back and waited, watching, mean- 
while, the faces of the congregation, as they 
flocked past him. The group of Chinamen were 
lingering in front of the chancel, peering about 
at the lectern and font, and gazing up at the 
flower-laden altar. 

“Heap nice; all samee Joss house,” he heard 
one of them saying, with manifest approval. 

Up in her corner beside the chancel, the or- 
ganist was still playing her postlude ; then she 
closed the organ, and rose to come down the 
steps, drawing on her gloves as she came. 
Before she had time to raise her eyes towards 
the congregation, the stranger was joined by 
Charlie MacGregor, who had hurried to the place 


90 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


where he was still pausing irresolutely, with his 
eyes fixed on Louise. 

“Dr. Brownlee, when did you come?” the boy 
exclaimed, in enthusiastic welcome. “ I didn’t 
know you were here yet.” 

“ I only came yesterday morning,” the doctor 
answered, with a cordial smile which not only in- 
cluded Charlie, but extended to Howard and Ned 
who were lingering at a little distance, and casting 
curious glances at Charlie’s unknown friend. “ I 
was just in time to hear your new choir, but I 
never dreamed of finding you in it.” 

“Yes, I’m in it,” returned Charlie, laughing. 
“ I ’m all at home here, now. I like it, too ; ever 
so much better than I thought I was going to. 
These are my cousin -and his chums,” he added, 
as they moved slowly down the aisle to where 
Grant had joined his brother and Howard. “And 
this,” he went on, turning around abruptly, and 
speaking with the grace of manner so natural to 
him, “this is our organist. Miss Everett. Miss 
Lou, may I introduce Dr. Winthrop Brownlee, the 
friend I told you about meeting on the way out 
here?” 

For a moment the doctor and Louise stared at 
each other, too much embarrassed to speak, while 


THE MEETING IN THE WATERS. 


91 


the color rushed to their faces. Then the doctor 
came to his senses, saying slowly, — 

“ I think I have met Miss Everett before.” 

And, to the utter mystification of the boys, they 
burst out laughing, and laughed as if they would 
never stop. 


92 


CHAPTER VI. 

MARJORIE’S PARTY. 

“ O Allie,” said Marjorie suddenly ; “ did you 
know that next Thursday is going to be mamma’s 
birthday? ” 

'‘No, is it?” asked Allie, as she stooped to pick 
up the long, lean gray cat that was wandering aim- 
lessly around them, and rubbing her hollow sides 
against their ankles. “ I thought you gave Waif 
away, Marjorie.” 

“ We did,” responded Marjorie, laughing. “ She 
was a stray cat that came to us, you know, and she 
was so homely that mamma didn’t want her in the 
house, so we gave her to Dr. Hornblower, a month 
ago.” 

“Where ’d she come from, then? ” queried Allie, 
while she stroked the cat as she stood pawing and 
purring in her lap. “Wouldn’t she stay with 
him?” 

“ Didn’t I tell you ? How queer, for we ’ve been 
laughing about it ever since ! You see,” Marjorie 
continued, “ the doctor was lonesome, and wanted 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


93 


a cat for company, and we didn’t want Waif, so we 
gave her to him. He was perfectly delighted with 
her, and carried her off home in a paper sack, with 
her head poking out through a hole in one side, 
and her tail sticking out the other. Two days later 
he stopped papa in the post-office and told him, 

^ Your kitty’s caught a mouse.’ The next week he 
met mamma and told her ‘ Kitty ’s caught three 
mice.’ Then we didn’t see anything more of him 
for ever so long, and we supposed that was 
the last of it ; but, day before yesterday morning, 
he came to the door and handed a bundle to 
mamma, and said he didn’t like the kitty as well 
as he thought he was going to, after all, so he ’d 
brought her back. So here she is. Don’t you 
want her?” 

“ I wouldn’t take such a looking cat as a gift,” 
returned Allie disdainfully. ‘‘But wasn’t that just 
like Dr. Hornblower? He’s very good; but he ’s 
as stupid as he can be, and I don’t s’pose it ever 
occurred to him that he could pass the cat along 
to somebody else. Did you ever notice the way 
Mrs. Pennypoker always calls him ‘ good old Dr. 
Hornblower,’ when she ’s ten years older than he 
is? I wonder how he’d like it, if he could hear 
her.” 


94 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


I don’t believe he ’d mind, for he likes her so 
well; at least, he ’s there ever so much,” said Mar- 
jorie innocently. 

“ H’m ! you needn’t think he goes to see Mrs. 
Pennypoker,” said Allie scornfully. “It’s Miss 
Lou that he likes.” 

“ Not that old man ! ” And Marjorie stared at her 
friend in amazement. 

“ He isn’t so very old ; and I don’t know as I 
wonder if he does,” replied Allie, with an air of 
great enjoyment in her small gossip. “ I should 
think anybody might like Miss Lou, she ’s so 
pretty ; and I just believe Mrs. Pennypoker is help- 
ing him on. You wait and see.” 

The two girls were sitting alone in the open front 
door of the Fishers’ house, enjoying the late after- 
noon sun of a warm spring day. They had been 
off for a long ride with the boys, as was their fre- 
quent custom. The children all had their saddle 
ponies, and it was their delight to canter off, soon 
after lunch, for an hour or two among the pleasant 
mountain roads surrounding the town. On their 
return, they had stopped for a moment at Mar- 
jorie’s door, to find that Mrs. Fisher had gone out 
to make some calls ; and Marjorie had begged Allie 
to stay and keep her company until Allie had at 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


95 


length yielded and allowed the boys to go on with- 
out her. 

There was a pause after Allie’s last words ; then 
Marjorie returned to her original charge. 

“Yes,” she resumed; “Thursday is going to be 
her birthday, and I want to celebrate. What can 
Ido?” 

“ I don’t know, I ’m sure,” answered Allie 
vaguely. “ What do you want to do? ” 

“ That ’s the worst of it,” responded Marjorie 
thoughtfully. “ I want it to be something that she ’d 
like, and I don’t know just what. I might — Let 
me see. I ’ll tell you,” she added, with sudden in- 
spiration, “ I ’ll give her a surprise party.” 

“What?” And Allie looked at her friend, in 
astonishment at so daring a proposal. 

“ Yes, I ’ll give her a party,” repeated Marjorie, 
nodding her head with decision. 

“But do you suppose she ’d like it?” inquired 
Allie dubiously. 

“ Of course she will. She ’most always has one 
for me on my birthday, you know,” returned Mar- 
jorie ; “ and she wouldn’t do that, if she didn’t 
like them. She never had one herself ; but that ’s 
only because she didn’t have anybody to give her 


one. 


96 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Such logic was not to be resisted ; and Allie 
felt her misgivings swept away while she lis- 
tened. 

“Besides,” Marjorie went on enthusiastically; 
“ I heard her say to papa, last night, that they ’d 
take that very day to go over to Butte, and buy the 
new parlor carpet. They dl go in the morning 
early, and not come back till five, so that will just 
give us time, while they ’re out of the way. You ’ll 
help me get ready for it, won’t you, Allie ? ” 

“ If mamma will let me,” Allie was beginning, 
when Marjorie interrupted, — 

“ Your mother mustn’t know anything about it; 
but we won’t go to Mrs. Hammond that morning, 
we ’ll come here instead.” 

“ I ’m afraid we oughtn’t to do that,” remon- 
strated Allie feebly, although she was secretly 
longing to enter into the proposition. 

“Why not?” demanded Marjorie. “Mamma 
gave up going to missionary meeting, last year, to 
get ready for my birthday party, and this is just 
the same thing. Don’t be silly, Allie, but help me 
plan. I know mamma would say ’t was right,” she 
added with an air of self-sacrificing virtue ; “ to 
give up our own improvement for the sake of 
making her happy.” 


Marjorie's party. 97 

“ We might ask mamma,” suggested Allie hope- 
fully. 

‘‘ Oh, no ; she ’d be sure to tell my mother, and 
that would spoil all the surprise,” interposed Mar- 
jorie hastily. “ It will be all right, I know. Would 
you have them come to supper, or just in the even- 
ing?” 

“ It ’s less work to have them come in the even- 
ing, isn’t it?” asked Allie, losing her last doubts 
in the excitement of making plans for so momen- 
tous an occasion. 

“Well, no,” said Marjorie reflectively. “You 
have to feed them both times ; and, in the evening, 
we ’d have to have more salads and fancy things. 
We won’t need so much, just for tea.” 

“What would you have? ” inquired Allie, mov- 
ing down to the lower step where her friend was 
sitting. 

“ Oh, just cake and preserves, and some kind of 
cold meat,” returned Marjorie. “ They ’ll be so 
busy talking they won’t much mind what they get 
to eat, as long as there ’s plenty of it. We ’ll have 
it early, too, so they won’t get so hungry. I can 
make splendid gingerbread, and the rest we can 
get down at the bakery; I haven’t touched my 
this month’s money yet. We ’ll work hard all the 


98 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


morning, and get the tables set and everything 
ready before mamma comes home, so they can be 
on hand to surprise her, when she comes in at the 
door.” 

“ Yes,” continued Allie, growing enthusiastic in 
her turn ; “ and then she won’t need to have any 
care or worry about it ; all she ’ll have to do will 
be just to sit in the parlor and make sure that they 
have a good time. At the table, she ’ll have to 
pour the tea ; but we can pass things. Who ’re 
you going to invite? ” 

Let ’s see,” said Marjorie, pondering over the 
matter. “ There ’s your father and mother, and 
Mr. Everett and Miss Lou and Mrs. Pennypoker; 
that’s five.” 

“And Ned and Grant?” suggested Allie. 

“Oh, no,” answered Marjorie; “they’d only be 
in the way, and, besides, they’re too young. This 
isn’t a party for me, you know, and we can’t have 
the boys.” 

“ Not even Howard ? ” begged Allie. “ He could 
help us cut meat, and wash dishes afterwards. He 
can do that as well as a girl.” 

“ The boys can all come and wash dishes, after 
it ’s over, if they want to,” returned Marjorie firmly ; 
“ but we can’t have them at supper-time. I 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


99 


wouldn’t mind Howard ; but there ’s Charlie and 
the Everetts that would have to come, if he did, so 
we might as well stop before we begin. Where 
was I? Two Burnams and three Everetts and two 
Fishers, to start with : seven.” 

“And the Nelsons? ” asked Allie. 

“Yes, nine; and Dr. Hornblower is ten, — I 
suppose we ought to ask him, — and Mrs. Ham- 
mond is eleven, ’cause she might be cross next 
day, if we didn’t invite her. And then that new 
doctor that Charlie knows — what is his name ? ’ 
“Dr. Brownlee?” inquired Allie. “But does 
your mother know him ? ” 

“ I don’t think so,” said Marjorie ; but he ’s real 
pleasant looking, and I ’ve heard her say, ever so 
many times, that it’s polite to welcome strangers 
when they first come to a place, so I know she ’d 
want us to ask him. And then Miss Lou knows 
him a little bit, for I saw him take off his hat to her 
the other day ; and she can introduce him. He 
makes twelve. I don’t believe we ’d better have 
any more. I ’d like to ask Mr. Saunders, that 
keeps the fruit store down on the corner ; but they 
say thirteen is unlucky, so perhaps twelve will do.” 

“ All right,” agreed Allie. “ How are you going 

to ask them ? ’’ 


lOO 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


I shall just say, * Mamma wishes you ’d come 
to supper at half past five.’ I won’t ask them till 
the night before for fear somebody ’d tell her; but 
if she goes on the early train, it will be safe 
enough.” 

Then aren’t you going to say it’s a surprise 
party?” asked Allie, rising to go home, as she saw 
Mrs. Fisher coming up the street. 

No ; for I ’m afraid they mightn’t come,” said 
Marjorie, in a low voice. Now, Allie, don’t you 
dare to breathe a word of this to anybody, not 
even to Floward, for I want it to be a perfect sur- 
prise. And you know you ’ve promised to help 
me out in the morning.” 

Five days later, two flushed and grimy, but 
triumphant young hostesses stood gazing at the 
tables before them. Marjorie’s plan had been 
carried into effect; and her guests, one and all, 
had gratefully accepted Mrs. Fisher’s invitation to 
tea, for they knew of old that her little parties were 
the most enjoyable ones in the camp. Even Dr. 
Brownlee had sent a cordial message of accept- 
ance, for though he was surprised at the invitation, 
coming as it did from a stranger whom he did not 
even know by sight, he attributed it to the pro- 
verbial Western hospitality, and was glad of any- 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


lOI 


thing which could bring him into connection with 
the people among whom he was to live. Early 
that morning Mr. and Mrs. Fisher had gone away 
for a long, tedious day of shopping, and an hour 
later Allie and Marjorie had invaded the kitchen 
for four hours of hard work. By noon all was in 
readiness, and they could pause to contemplate 
the result of their labors. 

The table was stretched to its utmost length, 
and bright with snowy linen and glass and silver, 
while around it were gathered twelve chairs, taken 
from the different rooms, in order to accommodate 
the unusual number of guests. Here a dining- 
room chair stood beside one borrowed from Mrs. 
Fisher’s bedroom ; there kitchen wood and parlor 
upholstery were placed side by side, in striking 
contrast. The table itself was groaning beneath 
the weight of the feast, for Marjorie had been 
liberal in her selection from her mother’s pre- 
serves ; while a whole boiled ham, fresh from the 
bakehouse, stood before Mr. Fisher’s place, and 
at the other end of the table his wife’s chair was 
decked with ribbons, and confronted with a great 
loaf of cake, whose uneven icing bore, in red sugar, 
the letters “ M. C. F.,” traced by an inexperienced 
hand. This was Allie’s contribution to the ban- 


102 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


quet, and Marjorie had thoughtfully surrounded it 
with a circle of thirty-nine tiny candles, which stood 
ready for the lighting. Plates of assorted cookies 
were scattered about the board; here lay a low 
dish of olives, whose dusky green contrasted well 
with the ruddy globe of an Edam cheese, placed 
beside them, and there rose a towering pyramid of 
golden oranges flanked on either side by a tempt- 
ing pile of purple and Avhite grapes. 

“It does look pretty, doesn’t it, Allie?” asked 
Marjorie for the fifth time. 

“Yes,” said Allie, as she bent forward to break 
a corner off from one of the cookies and tuck it 
into her mouth. “Yes, it is lovely. I do hope 
your mother will like it. But now I must 
hurry, or mamma will know something is going 
to happen.” 

“ Go on, then ; only be sure you ’re back here 
by five,” Marjorie warned her. “And don’t let the 
boys come, here this afternoon, for I’m too tired 
to even look at them.” 

At half past five, the guests had assembled and 
were sitting in the parlor, looking a little annoyed 
and uncomfortable as the moments passed by and 
their hostess did not appear. 

“ Come right in,” Marjorie had said to them, one 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


103 


after another; “Mamma will be so glad to see 
you ; she’ll be here in a minute.” 

Last of all came Dr. Brownlee. He had been 
delayed until the last possible moment, and now, 
just as Mr. and Mrs. Fisher turned the corner far 
down the street, he rang at the door, to be 
admitted by Marjorie. Once inside the parlor, he 
stopped and looked around the room in search of 
his hostess, in order to offer her a prompt apology 
for his seeming rudeness in being so late. To his 
surprise, there was no one present at all answering 
to the description of Mrs. Fisher which he had 
received from his landlady. 

“ Hamlet, without the ghost ! ” he thought to 
himself, as he paused irresolutely, just across the 
threshold, and glanced about in vain for a familiar 
face. 

For a moment there was an awkward hush. 
Most of the guests knew the doctor by sight, but 
in the explicable absence of their hostess, no one 
was sufficiently at ease to rise and bid the stranger 
welcome to another person’s house. They tried 
to go on with their conversation, in apparent un- 
consciousness of the young man who stood in the 
doorway, reddening under their sidelong glances ; 
but their attempt was not crowned with success, 


104 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


and there came one of those seemingly intermin- 
able pauses which sometimes fall upon a room. 
Then, all at once, Louise Everett rose from her 
chair in the bay-window, where she had been 
hidden behind the ample shoulder of Mrs. Penny- 
poker, and, crossing the room, she greeted the 
doctor as an old acquaintance. A few words 
passed between them; then she introduced him 
to the other guests, before leading the way back 
to her own cosy corner, where Mrs. Burnam sat 
waiting to welcome him, as the friend of her young 
nephew. 

“Who’s that going in at our house?” Mr. 
Fisher had asked, peering over the top of the pile 
of bundles in his arms. “ It looks like Dr. Brown- 
lee; but why should he be going there? ” 

“ Oh, dear ; I hope it isn’t anybody coming to 
call,” sighed his wife, with the inhospitality born 
of a long day of tedious, unsatisfactory shopping. 
But she quickened her pace, in order to discover 
who was the guest awaiting them. 

At the door she was met by Marjorie, dressed 
in her best gown, and looking strangely excited. 

“ Let me take your things, mamma,” she said in 
a low tone. “ There ’s somebody to see you in 
the parlor.” 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


05 


Forcing a smile to her tired face, Mrs. Fisher 
advanced to the door to greet her caller. On the 
threshold she paused aghast, for, to her startled 
eyes, the room appeared to be thronged with 
people, who rose and stepped forward to meet her, 
while Marjorie stood at her side, gleefully clapping 
her hands and exclaiming, — 

It ’s a surprise party, mamma ! It ’s a surprise 
party ! ” 

For one instant, Mrs. Fisher faltered. She had 
come home in a state of utter exhaustion, and she 
longed to run away from the parlor and hide. But 
the next minute her courage came back to her, in 
the face of her roomful of guests, and she gave 
them as hearty a welcome as if the party had been 
one of her own making. Up and down the room 
she went, speaking a wo^'d here, shaking a hand 
there, all with the tact for which her hospitality 
was noted. She had sent one appealing glance 
towards Louise, and the girl, taking in the situation 
in a moment, had come to her aid, with Dr. Brown- 
lee at her side. In a short time the room was 
buzzing with voices, as the guests entered into the 
full tide of conversation. 

Suddenly the dining-room door swung open, and 
Allie appeared on the threshold. 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


I06 

“ Please come out to supper, now,” she said 
shyly, as she met her mother’s surprised glance. 

There was another pause of uncertainty; then 
Mr. Everett offered his arm to Mrs. Fisher, and 
led the way to the table, where the guests seated 
themselves as they wished, gazing, meanwhile, 
with amused eyes at the feast before them. A 
short silence followed, and then the conversation 
started up once more, as Mr. Fisher, with one 
despairing glance at his wife, attacked the vast ham 
before him, and Mrs. Fisher began to pour out the 
pale, watery effusion which filled the teapot. Allie 
and Marjorie were already bestirring themselves to 
pass the plates and cups about the table ; but all 
at once Marjorie paused abruptly, with her. arm 
outstretched, as she gazed blankly this way and 
that. Then her face grew red and the sudden tears 
rushed to her eyes, as she hurried out of the room, 
with a gesture to Allie to follow her. 

“What is it, Marjorie?” Allie exclaimed in 
alarm, as the young hostess sank down into the 
wood box and buried her face in her hands. 

An inarticulate moan was her only answer. 

“ Marjorie ! Marjorie ! ” she urged again. “ Tell 
me what’s the matter. Are you ill?” 

Then Marjorie raised her head for a moment. 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


107 


“ I ’m all right,’ she said, with a great sob of 
shame; “but what shall we do, Allie? We ate 
up all the bread for breakfast, and I forgot to order 
any more.” 

It was late that evening when the guests took 
their leave ; and, as they went away down the 
street together, they said, over and over again, 
that Mrs. Fisher had never before been half so 
bright and witty in her talk, so quick to plan new 
modes of entertainment. Their hostess watched 
them out of sight ; then, after an expressive look 
at her husband, she turned away from the door, 
and crossed the hall to Marjorie’s room! All was 
dark within, as she opened the door and entered ; 
but, as soon as her eyes had grown accustomed to 
the gloom, she went up to the bed, and laid her 
hand on a small, dark body, curled up on the white 
spread. 

“ Marjorie, dear,” she said gently. 

The childish figure was quivering with suppressed 
sobs ; but there was no other answer. 

“ Marjorie,” she said again; “ don’t feel so badly 
about it, my child.” 

The tone of motherly sympathy was too much 
for Marjorie’s self-control, and the tears began to 
come, thick and fast. 


I 08 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

“ O mamma,” she cried ; ** truly we didn’t mean 
to. I’m so sorry.” 

Mrs. Fisher sat down on the side of the bed, and 
drew her daughter towards her. 

“ Don’t cry so, Marjorie,” she repeated. “ I 
know you didn’t mean to do anything out of the 
way. Tell me how you came to ask all these peo- 
ple here.” 

Between her sobs, Marjorie told her mother the 
whole story; and Mrs. Fisher rejoiced that the 
kindly darkness hid her smile, as she listened to 
her little daughter’s incoherent explanation of the 
party and its cause. 

“ And I meant it should all be so nice,” Mar- 
jorie ended, with a fresh burst of tears; “and it 
was just dreadful. I forgot the bread, and the 
candles wouldn’t burn, and nobody knew Dr. 
Brownlee, and everything was horrid. Scold me, 
if you want to ; but I truly meant to give you a 
good time, only it all went wrong.” 

“ Marjorie, dear,” her mother said, when she 
could steady her voice enough to speak ; “ I know 
you meant to make me have a happy birthday, and 
I am grateful to my little girl for taking so much 
pains for me. Another time we will talk it over 
together, and plan the best thing to do, instead of 


MARJORIE’S PARTY. 


09 


your trying to surprise me. And now forget all 
about the worry of it, and only remember that 
you ’ve done what you could to make the day 
pleasant for me.” And she bent over for a good- 
night kiss, before she returned to the kitchen for a 
long hour of dish-washing and putting the room 
to rights. 


CHAPTER VII. 


janey's prophecy. 

Git up in de mawnin’ singin’, an’ de cat cotch 
you befo’ night,” Janey had said oracularly, when 
Allie ran out into the kitchen, that morning before 
breakfast, with the refrain of one of Charlie’s songs 
upon her lips. 

“ What nonsense, Janey ! ” said Allie, laughing 
at the strange, old-time saying. “ I don’t believe 
the cat ’ll ‘ cotch ’ me any more for singing, and 
it’s ever so much more fun than ’tis to cry.” 

In fact, there was no particular reason that Allie 
should not sing, for life looked very attractive to 
her that morning. The bright June sunshine was 
lying warm over the town, and giving back a daz- 
zling lustre from the snow-capped mountains which 
rose up from the midst of the summer landscape ; 
lessons were over for the present, and, best of all, 
Mr. and Mrs. Burnam were to go out to camp 
that day, to make final arrangements for the long- 
talked-of week, when the Everetts, Burnams, and 
Fishers were to pitch their tents beside the engi- 
110 


janey’s prophecy. 


Ill 


neering camp, in the Bitter Root Mountains, and 
enjoy a week of roughing it in the wilderness. 
Soon after breakfast they drove away from the 
door, with Victor snugly tucked in between them, 
while Allie, with the boys and Ben, stood on the 
piazza, to wave them a good-by. The children 
lingered there until the wagon was out of sight; 
then they turned back into the house, feeling very 
important over the prospect of two days of house- 
keeping on their own account. 

But, after all their anticipations, the morning did 
not prove to be quite as enjoyable as they had 
hoped it would be. Marjorie had been invited 
to spend the day with them ; but, unfortunately, 
Marjorie was in one of her perverse fits, and so 
successfully devoted herself to the task of being 
disagreeable that Allie was at her wits’ end how 
to manage her; Howard openly quarrelled with 
her, and even Charlie, the courteous, marched 
out of the room and slammed the door behind 
him, while he sang, with tantalizing distinctness, — 

“ ‘ Oh, jimineddy ! And oh, goody gracious ! 

How I did love her ! But she was contumacious.’ ” 

This last insult was too much for Marjorie to 
bear, for, in her secret heart, she greatly admired 
Charlie, and longed to have him for her ally and 


I 12 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


champion, instead of being forced to watch his 
unswerving devotion to his cousin. As the door 
closed behind him, she flew after him, to deliver 
herself of one parting shot, — 

“ Charlie MacGregor, I de-test you ! You ’re 
no gentleman, even if you do think you are ; and 
I only hope you ’ll get what you deserve for being 
so rude to me, when I ’m company.” 

Then the door banged again with even greater 
violence than before, and Marjorie burst out 
crying, as she put on her hat and departed, with- 
out a word to Allie. 

Her irate guest once gone, Allie moved up and 
down the rooms, putting them in order with much 
the same dazed feeling as that which comes in the 
sudden hush that sometimes follows a violent 
thunder-shower. The more she pondered on the 
events of the morning, she could not see that 
either she herself or the two boys were in any 
way to blame for Marjorie’s explosion, and as she 
forlornly sat down to the lunch table, she felt as 
if she were in part realizing the truth of Janey’s 
prediction. However, she was too much accus- 
tomed to Marjorie’s sudden fits of temper, and too 
well acquainted with her really kind heart, to 
dwell long upon the matter; so before the meal 


janey’s prophecy. 1 13 

was ended she was gayly laughing with the boys, 
and planning for the next day’s frolic. 

“ Come out and have a ride, Allie,” urged Charlie, 
as they left the table. “ I have a kind of a sort of 
a feeling that I ’m in disgrace, and I want some fun 
to console me.” 

Allie laughed. 

“ How silly you are to mind what Marjorie 
says ! ” she answered. “ She ’ll be all over it 
by to-morrow, and like you better than ever; I 
know just how angelic she always is, after one of 
these times. But if you want a ride, I ’ll be ready 
in an hour. I ’ve promised to write a letter for 
Janey, first.” 

To his Goatship ? ” inquired Howard disre- 
spectfully. “ All right ; we ’ll go out and play 
ball till time to get the ponies.” And they 
went away, while Allie stood in the door, saucily 
calling after them to be good boys and not get 
into mischief. 

“Now, Janey,” she said, as she went out into 
the kitchen ; “ I ’ll write that letter for you before 
you wash the dishes or anything; because Mr. 
Charlie wants me to go to ride with him, as soon 
as I can.” And she seated herself at the table, 
while Janey went after her writing materials. 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


II4 

'‘How you done like my paper, Miss Allie?” 
the girl asked proudly, as she laid upon the 
table a sheet of vivid, rose-colored paper, and its 
accompanying envelope, which brought with them 
an aggressive fragrance of musk. Then she dropped 
down on the floor behind her young mistress, coil- 
ing herself up in the corner, with her back against 
the wall, that she might dictate at her ease. 

“ My dear frien’,’’ she began slowly, and with 
the air of searching her mind for properly sono- 
rous phrases ; “ I have done receive your letter, 
an’ I take my pen in han’ to now reply. I was 
very glad to know dat you is well, an’ I am 
sorry to say I am not; I think I have de con- 
sumption ” — 

“Why, Janey,” interposed Allie; “what do you 
mean? Aren’t you well? ” 

“Yes, I ’s well enough,” answered Janey, as she 
shot a sudden mischievous glance from the corners 
of her downcast eyes ; “ but I reckon he ’ll think 
more of me, ef he thinks I ’s goin’ to die. I am 
not very happy,” she resumed, in the same stilted 
tone as before ; “ an’ las’ night you came to me in 
a -dream, an’ tol’ me you was dead. I done specks 
he ’ll cry like everything, when he reads dat,” she 
interpolated, with a nod of triumph. “ Sometimes 


janey’s prophecy. 


IIS 

I reckon we sha’n’ never see each other no mo’ ; 
but you mus’ never forget your Janey. Um-mm,” 
she went on, in an inarticulate mumble. 

“What?” inquired Allie, pausing, with her pen 
in mid air, as she turned around to see Janey with 
her cap off, a row of hairpins between her lips, 
and a pair of gleaming scissors raised to one of her 
woolly tails. 

There was a sudden sound of snipping steel, and 
then Janey continued, — 

“ I sen’ you a plat of my hair, an’ I wants you 
to sen’ me one of yours ; an’-an-’ ” Janey hesitated, 
while she put on her cap once more. 

“Well, what next?” asked Allie, secretly won- 
dering, as she glanced at the sable tress before her, 
why each could not retain his own hair, since the 
two locks would probably be so much alike that 
only the keen eye of an expert or a lover could 
distinguish between them. 

“ So no mo’ now,” dictated Janey. “ Give my 
love to Emma Digson, an’ Joe Harrison, an’ my 
mother, an’ tell little Bill he mus’ be a good boy, 
an’ tell Sarah Johnson ” — Here followed a list of 
greetings and messages, as long as those at the end 
of the Pauline epistles. 

Allie was still toiling her way through them, 


Il6 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

making conscientious attempts to discover the 
proper spelling of names, when she heard the front 
door open and shut. A moment later, Howard 
appeared in the kitchen, very pale and with trem- 
bling lips. 

Come here a minute, Allie,” he said, in a tone 
of command so unlike his usual manner that his 
sister started up at the first word. 

“What is it?” she demanded hastily. “What 
do you want of me? ” 

But Howard had already hurried back to the 
parlor. She followed him, with a dull, cold feeling 
about her heart, as she became more and more 
convinced that there was some trouble. As she 
reached the parlor door, she drew back, for a 
moment, in alarm. On the sofa lay Charlie, with 
his handkerchief tied over the upper part of his 
face, and his cheeks and lips as white as Howard’s 
had been. The next instant she sprang forward 
to his side, crying, — 

“ O Charlie, what has happened ? Are you 
hurt? What is it?” 

With a strong effort, the boy steadied his voice 
enough to say quietly, as he stretched out his 
hand towards the spot where he had heard her 
drop down on her knees beside the sofa, — 


janey’s prophecy. 


II7 

’T isn’t much, Allie ; so don’t get rattled. 
Howard ’ll tell you about it.” And he paused 
abruptly, biting his lip to keep from crying out 
with pain. 

“ We were playing ball, and Charlie went to 
catch. He muffed, somehow, and the ball hit him 
in the eye ; it smashed his glasses, and they ’ve 
cut his eyes some,” explained Howard, in a hurried, 
breathless tone, while he tramped nervously up and 
down the room. 

“What can we do? If mamma were only here, 
Howard ! Is it very bad, Charlie ? ” And for a 
moment Allie’s head dropped beside her cousin’s, 
while she shook with sobs of mingled pity and fear. 
Then she started up again, to force back her tears 
as she said, with all the pride and energy of the 
MacGregors in her firm, clear voice, — 

“ Howard, don’t rush round so ; you ’ll only 
make Charlie worse. It may not be so bad ; but 
you go, quick as you can, for Dr. Brownlee. Run 
every single step of the way, and don’t you come 
back without him.” 

For an instant, Howard stared admiringly at the 
determined little figure before him ; then he rushed 
away, glad to get out of sight, where he could rub 
the tears off from his cheeks, and feeling an imme- , 


Il8 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

diate relief in the need for prompt action. Twenty 
minutes later he came back, accompanied by the 
doctor, whom he had met on the street, not far 
from his office. 

As Allie rose from her place beside the sofa, she 
was filled with a momentary dislike of this hand- 
some, well-dressed young man, with the red carna- 
tion in his button-hole, who came into the room 
with a sort of quiet briskness, and addressed a half- 
laughing remark of greeting to Charlie. But as 
she watched him, she soon realized that there was 
nothing unsympathetic in his cheerfulness; and 
she felt a quick trust in him, when she looked up 
into his kind gray eyes, while he bent over Charlie 
and took the handkerchief from his face. An 
older person would have read much from the sud- 
den frown which passed across his forehead ; but 
Allie failed to catch it, and was cheered by his next 
words, — 

“ Only a scratch or two, and a little cut. We ’ll 
patch you up soon, my boy, so you needn’t worry. 
There ’s a little glass left here, though, that we want 
to get out of the way, first of all. You say your 
parents are away?” he asked, turning to Allie. 
“ Do you suppose you can help me a little ; or are 
you afraid ? ” 


janey’s prophecy. 1 19 

Allie’s cheeks grew white at the thought ; and 
the doctor, as he watched her, added kindly, — 

Or perhaps your brother ” — 

But Howard had fled, to shut himself up in his 
mother’s room. Allie could hear him moving 
restlessly about, behind the closed door. 

“ I ’ll help if I can,” she said bravely, though her 
rigid lips would scarcely form the words ; and she 
dropped her hand on Charlie’s cold fingers, to feel 
them close around it, with a grateful pressure, as 
the doctor said approvingly, — 

^‘That’s a brave girl! Now, has your mother 
anything that I could use for bandages ? ” 

Allie hurried away in search of the great 
“ emergency basket,” which her mother always 
kept well stocked with rolls of old cotton and linen 
and flannel. The doctor gave a quick nod of 
pleasure, as he saw the orderly store. 

Good I ” he said, as if to himself ; “ that tells 
the story. I wish more women would look out for 
such things. Now,” he went on, while he drew a 
chair to the window, and laid a little case of shin- 
ing, ugly-looking instruments on a table beside it; 

we must get rid of that glass as soon as we can ; and 
I want you, little woman, to hold this boy’s head 
tight, very tight, so he can’t move, no matter how 


20 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


much I do hurt him. Any slip now would be very 
serious.” 

There followed a short interval of silence, when 
Charlie ground his teeth hard together, to keep 
back any sound, and Allie sturdily held her place at 
the back of his chair, though she felt faint and sick 
at the sight before her, as those horrible little 
steel points moved up and down across her cous- 
in’s eye. Then the doctor spoke again, in his 
cheery, pleasant way, while he adjusted the neces- 
sary bandages ; but to Allie his voice sounded a 
long way off, and she dropped to the floor in a 
forlorn little heap, as soon as she received the 
doctor’s nod to assure her that her work was 
ended. 

“ You ’re a plucky pair,” said Dr. Brownlee then, 
as he led the boy back to the sofa, and arranged 
a pillow under his head. “ I don’t know which has 
been braver, but I ’m proud of you both. The 
worst is over now; but we want to get this boy 
into bed, where he can keep quiet for a day or two. 
I wish we could send word to your mother ; but I 
suppose that is out of the question, so we shall 
have to get along without her. Still, you ’ve a 
good nurse here, Charlie,” he added, with an ad- 
miring glance at Allie, who had roused herself once 


janey’s prophecy. 


I2I 


more and was standing by the sofa, with one slen- 
der hand resting on her cousin’s forehead. 

“ Shall I get his room ready? ” she asked, as her 
blue eyes filled with tears again ; for the doctor’s 
kind words were too much for her shaken nerves 
to bear. 

“ Yes, he ’ll be better there,” the doctor answered, 
as he followed her into the room which the two 
boys usually occupied. “ A southwest corner 
room,” he said, glancing around it. “That’s too 
strong a light ; isn’t there somewhere else ? ” 

“ Mine is on the other side,” she suggested. 

“ That ’s better ; but what will you do, my young 
nurse ? ” he asked with the gentle courtesy which 
was habitual with him. 

“ I ’ll take the sofa, or anywhere,” she said, as 
she led the way into her own dainty little room. 
“ He can have this to himself, too ; and Howard is 
in the other. I truly don’t mind a bit being turned 
out.” She paused and glanced over her shoulder 
to make sure that the door was shut. “ Is it very 
bad. Dr. Brownlee?” she asked, in a frightened 
whisper. 

“ I can’t tell yet; but I hope not,” the doctor 
said reassuringly. “ Now, little woman, listen to 
me. Your cousin will have to be shut up here in 


122 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


the dark for a good many days, and your mother 
will be away till to- morrow night. I might send for 
somebody to come and stay with you ; but it would 
only frighten Charlie, so I am going to leave him 
in your care, instead. You Ve just been doing 
splendidly with him ; and he ’s used to you, and 
likes to have you round him. Now, do you sup- 
pose you can see to him till bedtime, and through 
the day to-morrow? A great deal, much more 
than you know, depends on his being kept quiet 
and content, without any worry. I will come back 
this evening, and sleep on the sofa here, where I 
can look out for him through the night. Do you 
think you can do it? ” 

“ I will,” answered Allie, as solemnly as if she 
had been taking her marriage vows. 

The doctor studied her face intently. Such a 
little thing, a happy, rollicking child ! But, in the 
past hour, she had shown herself a woman, in the 
courage and tenderness which her love for her 
cousin had given her. He felt that he could trust 
her, even in such a critical case as this. But, as 
he looked down at the wistful, white face, and the 
drawn lips which yet made no complaint of weak- 
ness or of fear, some sudden impulse made him 
stoop and lift her hand to his lips. 


janey’s prophecy. 123 

** I am glad to bend the knee before so brave 
and true a lady,” he said, with assumed lightness to 
mask his real feeling. “ I hope the time may come 
when I shall be able to prove how gladly I would 
serve her.” 

“ Cure Charlie’s eye, then,” she answered, with 
quaint, serious directness. 

“ My dear little girl, I will if I can,” he replied 
gravely. 

Then he turned away, to close the blinds, draw 
down the shades, and pull together the heavy cur- 
tains, until the room lay in deep shadow. At sight 
of these ominous preparations, Allie’s fear came 
back to her. 

“ Oh, must he stay like this, all in the dark? ” she 
cried, in a sudden terror of she knew not what. 

“ For a little while,” answered the doctor, his 
voice sounding brisk and cherry again, through the 
thick darkness. We ’ll try not to have it last any 
longer than we can help. Now,” he went on 
kindly, if you ’ll go out in the sunshine and take 
a little run, while you get quieted down, I ’ll help 
Charlie into bed. Then I shall leave him in your 
hands.” 

But Allie was in no mood for sunshine, She 
paused for one moment beside her cousin, without 


124 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


daring to trust her voice to speak ; then she fled 
to the kitchen, and cast herself into Janey’s arms, 
to cry as if her young heart were breaking. 

Miss Allie, honey,” Janey begged her; “what 
is it? Tell Janey what’s de matter. Don’ cry so, 
Miss Allie, don’t.” 

Allie was past heeding her words. It had taken 
all her courage and self-control to go through the 
last hour, and, now that she could have a moment 
to herself, she could only cling to Janey and sob 
with a bitterness which brought the sympathetic 
tears into the dark eyes above her. 

“What is it, honey?” asked Janey again, as the 
child grew more quiet. 

“Oh, Janey, it’s Mr. Charlie!” And Allie’s 
head went over against the girl’s shoulder once 
more. 

Janey looked pityingly down into the swollen, 
flushed face before her. Then she seated herself 
in a chair, and gathering up the child in her strong, 
young arms, she rocked gently to and fro without 
speaking, while Allie sobbed out the story of the 
accident. When she paused, the girl’s brown 
cheek lay, for a moment, against the soft, thick 
hair, in an unspoken caress ; then she said cheer- 
fully, — 


janey’s prophecy. 


125 


“ Now, Miss Allie, dear, it ’s too bad, and Janey 's 
sorry for you all. But jus’ you dry up your eyes, 
an’ don’ cry no mo’. Mars’ Charlie ’s too good a 
boy for de Lord to give him very bad time, an’ 
’t won’t be long befo’ he ’s all right again. Janey’s 
awful sorry for you ; but you jus’ try to keep jolly, 
for his ’count, an’ your ma will be home to-mor- 
row. It’ll all come out for de bes’,” she added, 
with the simple faith of her people, which some- 
how comforted Allie, and gave her new strength 
to go on. 

A few minutes later, the doctor sent Howard in 
search of his sister, and Allie was able to go 
quietly back into her room. It looked strangely 
unfamiliar to her ; but as her eyes became accus- 
tomed to the darkness, she gradually made out the 
figure of her cousin, who was lying in her dainty 
bed, with broad white bandages covering his 
eyes. 

“ Is that you, Allie?” he asked eagerly, as the 
door opened. “ The doctor says you ’re to look 
out for me to-day, and I ’m no end glad of it.” 

“ Yes,” said the doctor, from his corner where 
Allie had not yet seen him ; you couldn’t have a 
better nurse. Now,” he added, after giving her a 
few simple directions, I shall be back early this 


126 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


evening, and, till then, you ’re in charge. All you 
have to do,” he went on, as Allie followed him to 
the door, “ is to wait on him, and see that the light 
doesn’t get to him. You can talk to him, just as 
you always do, only be a little quiet.' Above all, 
don’t let him get to thinking about his eye, for he 
mustn’t worry. Good-by.” 

He left her to go back into her cousin’s room, 
while he went down the street, saying to him- 
self, — 

“ I wish I could often get as plucky a patient 
and nurse. But I ’d give a good deal if I had a 
first-class oculist in town to-night ; I don’t like the 
looks, up there.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


IN THE DARK. 

Often and often, during the next few weeks, 
Allie recalled the conversation which had taken 
place between herself and Marjorie, months before ; 
for Charlie’s time had come to prove his ability to 
bear trouble and suffering as bravely as a boy 
could do. Early on the afternoon following the 
accident. Dr. Brownlee had saddled his horse and 
ridden away to meet Mrs. Burnam, and prepare 
her for the new care awaiting her ; but it was not 
until the next day that he told her of his real fear, 
the danger that the injured eye might become so 
‘seriously inflamed that its sight would be destroyed. 
How Howard and Allie found it out, it would be 
impossible to say ; but, before the day was over, they 
knew the secret, and hovered about their cousin 
with an anxious care, the real cause of which he 
understood as little as he did that of the doctor’s 
extreme gentleness of voice and touch, when he 
came, morning and night, to examine the wound 
and renew the bandages. 


127 


128 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


It was a hard experience for the boy, for there 
were long days of sickening, throbbing pain, that 
darted up and down about his eye, and painted 
strange, lurid pictures against the darkness of his 
closed lids. Then came the time when he was 
allowed to sit up once more, and to wander clum- 
sily about his narrow quarters, bruising himself by 
frequent collisions with the unseen furniture, until 
Allie’s heart ached for him, and she longed to tear 
away the bandages, and let him have one short 
hour of daylight again. His piano was his main 
solace in these days, for Mrs. Burnam had had it 
moved into his room, and he amused himself with 
it for long hours at a time, when his cousins were 
busy, or away from home. Of course he grum- 
bled a little at times, as any healthy boy would do ; 
of course he had hours of being undeniably cross ; 
but, for the most part, he showed a quiet endur- 
ance which won the admiration of all his friends. 

But, little by little, as the danger passed, his 
privileges increased, and he was free to make daily 
excursions out into the parlor, which was dark- 
ened for his use, and to receive short calls from the 
Everetts and Marjorie. Allie had been his con- 
stant companion in these weeks, entertaining him, 
leading him about the room, and even feeding him 


IN THE DARK. 


129 


the meals which Mrs. Burnam and Janey prepared 
so daintily. Then, at length, came the great day 
when the bandage was taken off, to be replaced 
by a shade, and only resumed for the hour when 
Allie was to be allowed to lead him up and down 
the sunny piazza, and out along the street for 
daily-increasing distances. For Charlie, all this 
was like coming back into life once more. In 
spite of the darkness of his room, he could yet 
see the dim outlines of objects in his narrow line 
of vision, and grope his way about without being 
dependent upon his cousins for his ♦every need ; 
and after a month of perfect helplessness, even this 
was a relief, and he accepted it gratefully. 

And, after all, dark as the days we4‘e, they yet 
had their bright spots. In his constant visits, the 
doctor had quite won Charlie’s heart with his 
lively talk and fun, until the boy found himself 
eagerly looking forward to the next call, and won- 
dering what fresh interest his new friend had in 
store for him. For the doctor, true to the instincts 
of his profession, knew so well how to cover his 
real anxiety under his gay, light manner, that his 
young patient had no idea of the possible danger 
of his case, and only regarded it as a tedious, 
painful wound which would soon heal. 


130 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ I am getting most awfully sick of this, though,” 
he said one day, after the doctor had gone. “ It ’s 
a shame to be losing all this jolly weather, and I Ve 
forgotten how everything looks. Dr. Brownlee is a 
first-rate man ; but he needn’t make such a fuss 
over a scratch. I say, Allie, let ’s run away and 
go for a ride up the gulch.” 

“ Oh, wouldn’t I like to ! ” responded Allie, with 
a fervor which led Charlie to say gratefully, — 

“ I ’ll tell you what, Allie ; it ’s a shame for you 
to stay tucked up with me in this hole. You ’ve 
stuck by me like a Trojan ; but I ’m well enough 
off alone. Go out and have a lark ; I would if I 
could.” 

“Sha’n’t!.” returned Allie composedly. “Be- 
sides, there isn’t anybody to lark with.” 

“ Where are Marjorie and the boys? ” demanded 
Charlie, casting himself down in the easy-chair, and 
turning to face Allie, as she stood leaning against 
the window curtain. 

“They went fishing with Mr. Everett, up the 
canon.” 

“ Bother ! ” exclaimed Charlie impatiently. 
“ Here I am losing all the fun ; and you ’re so 
silly, you won’t go without me, when you could, as 
well as not. That ’s just like a girl.” 


IN THE DARK. 


13 


“ Now, Charlie, you just keep your temper,” 
said Allie laughingly, while she covered his mouth 
with her hand. “ If you say anything more that ’s 
saucy, I ’ll go off and never come back. I didn’t 
want to go i;o-day ; it ’s too warm. Besides, we ’ll 
make up for all this when we go into camp.” 

“Are we really going? I thought ’twas given 
up.” And Charlie started up with quick enthu- 
siasm. 

“ Yes, the plans are all made, and we ’re only 
waiting for you to be able to go. We ’re going to 
be gone two weeks, and ” — Allie paused, before 
imparting her final bit of good news — “ papa has 
asked Dr. Brownlee to go too.” 

“ How jolly ! ” Charlie exclaimed rapturously. 

“Isn’t it? The doctor didn’t want you to get 
where he couldn’t see to you ; and we all like him 
so much that papa said this was the best thing to 
do, so we ’re going to start the very first day you 
are able.” 

“When does he say ’twill be?” asked the boy 
eagerly. 

Allie hesitated. This part of her news was not 
so pleasant, for since the first danger was over and 
Charlie was allowed to be up and about the room, 
she knew that he was restless^ and longing to be 


32 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


out with the boys, enjoying his old free life once 
more. 

Well,” he urged again, “when can we go?” 

“ Not for three or four weeks,” she said gently, 
as her hand fell down from his face, and rested on 
his shoulder with a little caressing gesture. 

The boy needed all her sympathy, for his dis- 
appointment was keen. The prospect of a month 
more of an existence like that of the past three 
weeks was too much for his courage ; and, shaking 
off her hand, he rose and tramped up and down 
the room, frowning and moody. 

“ I won’t stand it ! ” he exclaimed suddenly, as 
he paused. “ There ’s no need of it, Allie, and 
I ’m just not going to stand another month of it. 
I ’ll risk my eyes, or let them slide ; but I must get 
out of this stuffy old room inside of a week, or I ’ll 
know the reason why.” 

But his temper was always short-lived, and he 
was soon his old bright self again. That night he 
was cheered by hearing the doctor say that he 
might go out into the parlor to see Ned and Grant 
for an hour in the morning. 

From that time on, his days began to pass more 
quickly. With Ned and Marjorie at their head, 
the young people showed unlimited patience and 


IN THE DARK. 


133 


ingenuity in planning new amusements for their 
friend ; and not a day passed that they did not 
descend upon him in a body, laden with offerings 
of fruit and flowers, trophies of their fishing expe- 
ditions, and bits of gay gossip from mine and 
smelter, choir and Chinatown. 

Marjorie, in particular, was his devoted slave. 
For the past few weeks, she had been carrying, deep 
down in her heart, a little sore spot, left there by 
the stinging memory of her hasty words an hour 
before the accident ; and, now that she could see 
her friend once more, she did her best to make 
amends for her past sins. But though her endless 
fun and rollicking kindness gave Charlie many a 
pleasant hour, it was to Allie that he turned in 
any emergency, for her long days of devotion to 
him had proved her a stanch, true friend. 

“Allie is a pretty good sort of girl,” he confided 
to Ned one day. “She’s just the kind to have 
round when you aren’t well, for she ’s jolly, and 
takes first-rate care of you, without being soft.” 

One afternoon, about three or four weeks after 
the accident, Marjorie and the three boys were 
sitting on the little front porch at the Everetts’, 
reposing after a long ride. It was a cool, cloudy 
day; the mist lay low over the mountain sides. 


134 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


and closed in between the walls of the canon, and 
the wind blew up fresh and sharp. Allie had 
watched the little group of riders as they cantered 
past the house and, turning the corner, stopped at 
the Everetts’. Then she was seized with a sudden 
inspiration. 

“ Get up, lazy boy,” she commanded, going into 
her room where Charlie lay on the sofa, stretched 
out at his ease, with his arms folded under his 
head. “ Mamma ’s coming in here, in a minute, to 
put on your blinders, and then let ’s go down to the 
Everetts’ for an hour. They ’re all down there, 
and we ’ll take them by surprise.” 

Charlie started up eagerly enough. It was the 
longest walk that he had taken, and he was glad 
to get out of his dull routine ; so, ten minutes later, 
he was on his way, with his hat pulled down over 
his face to cover the ignominious bandage, and 
Allie’s hand on his arm. 

Grant was the first to see him coming. 

“ Hurrah ! ” he shouted. “ There ’s Charlie 
Mac ! ” 

“Where? ” exclaimed Ned, turning around with 
a suddenness which made him lose his balance, as 
he sat on the rail, and sent him rolling over back- 
wards to the ground. He was on his feet again in 


IN THE DARK. 


135 


a twinkling, and tore away up the street to meet 
his guest, and, usu-rping Allie’s place as escort, 
bring him back to the steps in triumph. “ Sit 
down here, old fellow,” he said, as he deposited 
him in a chair, and seated himself protectingly on 
the arm. “ How jolly to have you round again ! ” 

“ Glad you think so,” responded Charlie ; “ I was 
feeling fine to-day, and Allie thought ’t would be a 
good scheme to come down here. You can just 
believe I was ready for a change of base.” 

The first chatter of eager greeting was not yet 
ended, when Louise Everett appeared in the door- 
way behind them. 

“ I must just come out to speak to Charlie,” she 
said, as she stepped forward to his chair. “ It ’s 
so long since I Ve seen you. No, don’t get up,” 
she added hastily ; “ you look too comfortable to 
let me disturb you, so I ’ll just sit down on the 
step beside Howard, if there ’s room.” 

“ Always room for you. Miss Lou,” returned 
Howard gallantly, as he curled up his feet so that 
his dusty shoes should not soil her fresh, pink 
gown. We ’ve set Charlie up in the middle, like 
• a Chinese idol, and are adoring him.” 

“ You ’d better get Wang Kum out here to 
help,” suggested the idol complacently. “ I ’m 


136 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

afraid I ’m not much to look at, Miss Lou ; but 
fortunately I don’t have to see myself these days. 
I leave it to Allie, to tell me if my hair 's smooth.” 

Louise laughed, as she rested one hand affection- 
ately on the girl’s shoulder. 

** The doctor says she has been a most devoted 
Allie ; and we all think that we haven’t seen much 
more of her than of you, this last month.” 

“ I know that, Howard and I aren’t any account, 
any longer,” said Marjorie, in an injured tone, 
from her seat on the rail. “ Howard, which of 
us shall get broken to pieces, so the other can 
’tend to it? ” 

“ What’s the use? ” returned Howard languidly. 
“ Our noses are out of joint now, and it doesn’t 
seem to do us any good.” 

“ Oh, by thunder ! ” exclaimed Grant, suddenly. 

Grant, dear, what words ! ” said his sister 
reprovingly. 

“ Can’t help it, Lou ; look there ! Dr. Horn- 
blower is coming down the road, and I can see, by 
the northeast corner of his weather eye, that he ’s 
going to stop and make us a visit.” 

“ Dr. Hornblower? Do put me out of sight 
somewhere,” begged Charlie. 

What for? You ’ve never seen him, and he ’s 


IN THE DARK. 1 37 

lots of fun,” said Howard, without the faintest 
appearance of respect for the clerical brother. 

“ I know, but I ’d rather meet him some time 
when I don’t feel so much like a mummy in a 
museum,” urged Charlie again. “ Can’t you get 
me out of this, Ned? ” 

There isn’t time, honestly. He ’s right here, 
or I would,” answered Ned in a low voice, as he 
drew his friend’s soft hat forward and turned down 
the brim. “You’re all right; and, besides, he ’s 
such an old duffer that he won't notice anything. 
He won’t stay here, any way; he comes to see 
cousin Euphemia, and help her out when she gets 
in a tight place with Wang Kum. Wang’s been 
cutting church lately, and most likely the doctor’s 
come to see about it.” 

The Reverend Gabriel Hornblower belonged to 
the fast vanishing school of mossbacks, or “ old- 
timers,” as they more elegantly termed themselves, 
the early settlers who had watched the State grow 
from its first squatter population to its present com- 
parative civilization. A mere boy in the stormy 
days of Sixty-three, he had joined one of the many 
trains of ox-teams which started across the coun- 
try, on their slow, toilsome march to the far West; 
and, for the next few years, his life had been one 


38 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


of continual excitement and hardship. His father 
and grandfather before him had been ministers ; so 
it was small wonder that Gabriel, upon arriving at 
man’s estate, should feel that both his family tradi- 
tion and his name had called him to the life of a 
wandering preacher among the mining camps and 
scattered ranches of the region, until he had finally 
settled down to take charge of the little church 
in Blue Creek. He was neither a great man, nor 
an educated one. On the contrary, he was igno- 
rant of any life outside of his own narrow sphere, 
and intolerant of all spirit of advance or change, 
singularly devoid of tact, but literal, honest, and 
well-meaning. Moreover, he was absolutely self- 
satisfied, but utterly lacking in the sense of fun 
which makes conceited people so much less disa- 
greeable, since it gives them a glimmering appre- 
ciation of their own absurdity. 

As far as his outward man was concerned, the 
Reverend Gabriel Hornblower was not fair to look 
upon. Although Mrs. Pennypoker never failed to 
speak of him as “ old Dr. Hornblower,” in reality 
he was not far from forty-five ; but he looked a 
score of years older, for his constant exposure to 
the fierce mountain gales and the burning suns of 
summer had tanned and dried him until his com- 


IN THE DARK. 


139 


plexion closely resembled a withered seckel pear, 
and his body was as thin and wiry as that of a 
September locust in a season of famine. But, in 
spite of his dull, yellow-brown skin, his deep-set 
blue eyes retained all their old life and sparkle, 
while his thick auburn hair was cut close at the 
back and sides of his head, and allowed to grow 
long above his forehead, where it was ‘combed up 
to form a single curl, which ran straight across the 
top of his head, from brow to crown. The pecu- 
liar nature of this curl had beguiled the time of 
dreary sermons for many a youthful sinner ; for, 
like Melchisedek, it appeared to have its beginning 
and ending in nothing, and there was a certain 
fascination in tracing its placid course above the 
august forehead. 

Approaching nearer to Dr. Hornblower, it was 
easy to see that he was a close student, either 
of books or of human nature. His habit of 
profound thought had developed an anxious 

frown, which had traced three deep wrinkles 
between his eyebrows ; while, upon the rare 
occasions when his massive brain was at rest, 

and his brow was smoothed, two narrow lines 

of white, untanned skin came to the surface, 

and gave his face a little the appearance of a 
fantastic mask. 


140 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


As he drew near the little group on the steps, 
Louise courteously rose to greet him. 

Come in, Dr. Hornblower,” she said hospita- 
bly. “Walk into the parlor, and Lll call Mrs. 
Pennypoker.” 

The doctor paused irresolutely, while he looked 
up into her fair young face. 

“ Um — thank you,” he said awkwardly. “I 
will — at least I didn’t exactly come to see Mrs. 
Pennypoker, this afternoon. I ” — 

“Shall I call Wang Kum? ” suggested Grant, 
with an air of ready interest, as he rose and moved 
a step towards the door. 

“ Not just now,” said the Reverend Gabriel 
stiffly. “Miss Everett, may I not have the — the 
pleasure of sitting at your feet? ” And he fixed 
his eyes on the patent-leather tips of her shoes. 

“ Of course we should be very glad to have you 
with us. Dr. Hornblower,” returned Louise, while 
the pink color in her cheeks grew a shade deeper, 
as she heard an irrepressible giggle from Marjorie. 
“Ned, will you please bring out another chair? 
This is Charlie MacGregor, Dr. Hornblower,” she 
added, as she saw the doctor’s eyes turn inquir- 
ingly in his direction. 

“In — deed; the young boy who was injured 


IN THE DARK. 


I4I 

while at play? How do you do, Charles? ” asked 
the Reverend Gabriel, after pausing to contemplate 
the lad, who had risen to his feet. 

Very much better, thank you,” replied Charlie, 
while Howard gave him a stealthy poke with his 
foot. 

“ Ah ? I am glad to hear it, for I have been 
much interested in your case. I hope you are 
properly thankful that there is now some slight 
possibility that your sight may be restored to 
you.” 

“ Take this chair. Dr. Hornblower,” interposed 
•Louise hastily, while Charlie turned an appealing 
face towards his cousins. “ It is a long time since 
you have been here; Mrs. Pennypoker was speak- 
ing of it only yesterday.” 

“ Yes, I have been much occupied with the 
duties of my calling,” returned the Reverend 
Gabriel, as he seated himself in the low chair, 
which brought his bony knees almost on a level 
with his chin. My time has been engaged in 
visiting the erring members of my flock ; and 
now, to-day, I find that I have an hour in which to 
call on you.” 

“ I hope you don’t look upon me as an erring 
member,” Louise said, laughing lightly. 


142 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Pardon me, my dear young friend, no ; you 
are misapprehending me,” answered the doctor, 
with a stiff-necked bow which sent Grant and 
Marjorie into the house to laugh unseen. I 
only wished to state that ” — 

‘‘ Cousin Euphemia will be here in a minute, 
Lou,” interrupted Ned, reappearing in the door- 
way. “ She saw the doctor coming, and she sent 
me out to say she ’d be right here ; she wants to 
talK up something about Wang. Come on, Charlie, 
I want to show you something in the house.” 

“ Really,” exclaimed the discomfited doctor, as 
he looked beseechingly at Louise ; “ I had no 
wish to disturb your cousin. Miss Everett. I trust 
that she did not feel that she ought to see me, if 
it is inconvenient.” 

“ Not at all ; she ’ll be delighted to see you,” 
answered his young hostess, with a grateful glance 
at her brother as he disappeared through the open 
door. 

“ There ! ” said Ned triumphantly, as the chil- 
dren settled themselves inside the parlor. “We’ll 
stay cached in here, out of the way ; and maybe 
there ’ll be some fun before long, if Cousin Euphe- 
mia and the doctor get after Wang. He ’s been to 
our church all the time lately, ever since our choir 


IN THE DARK. 


143 


started up ; and Cousin Euphemia doesn’t like it. 
I just heard her telling Wang to go out to them as 
soon as he could get ready.” 

Ned’s suspicions were well founded. A few 
moments later Wang Kum came shuffling around 
the corner of the house, with his hat cocked defi- 
antly on the back of his head, and his hands 
buried in the pockets of his loose blue toga. 

“ How do you do, Wang Kum? ” asked the doc- 
tor, benevolently eyeing the stray lamb before him. 

“ Heap well,” returned Wang Kum calmly, as 
he kept his eyes fixed on the ground, to avoid Mrs. 
Pennypoker’s warning glance. 

“ I was afraid you wer^ ill,” observed the doctor, 
with an approving smile for his own crafty manner 
of approaching the subject. 

“ Uh ? ” inquired Wang Kum. 

“ I thought perhaps you might be sick,” re- 
peated the doctor. “ I hadn’t seen you at church 
lately.” 

Wang shook his head contemptuously. 

“ Wang no get sick,” he remarked. 

“Then why haven’t you been to church?” 
asked the doctor. 

But Wang Kum only replied with a scarcely 
perceptible shrug. 


144 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ Wang, didn’t you hear Dr. Hornblower speak 
to you?” asked Mrs. Pennypoker sharply. 

Wang still stood gazing on the ground and nod- 
ding his head in a slow, thoughtful way which 
communicated a rhythmic undulation to his pig- 
tail. At Mrs. Pennypoker’s question, he glanced 
up. 

“ Wang no likee your church,” he answered 
coolly. “ Pisplykal church heap lot better ; smell 
good, sound good.” He paused, then added, with 
a cunning twinkle in his little dark eyes, “ Make 
heap washee for washee-shop.” And, turning on 
his heel, he marched off towards the kitchen, with 
the air of a man who had solved vast economic 
problems. 


CHAPTER IX. 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 

The August sun was shining down from a cloud- 
less sky. He had risen betimes that morning; 
but he was not the first one up in Blue Creek, for 
the dim light of the dawn had found Ned and 
Grant Everett dressed and flying about the house, 
while, farther up the street, Marjorie was peering 
out through the window blinds, to assure herself 
that it was to be a pleasant day. By seven o’clock 
the Burnams, too, were stirring; and soon after- 
wards Allie and the boys appeared in the dining- 
room at the Everetts’, to exchange noisy congrat- 
ulations over the fine weather. 

The day had at length come when they were to 
start upon their long-delayed camping trip. For 
the past week, the young people had been in a 
state of ferment, while their elders were in much 
the same condition, even to Mrs. Pennypoker, 
whose excitement was largely mixed with dread 
at the thought of the Bohemian life before her. 
The engineering camp, which they were to join, 
I4S 


146 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


was now pitched beside the Beaverhead River ; and 
Mr. Burnam, who had been out with his party 
much of the time since Charlie’s accident, had 
come back to Blue Creek two days before, an- 
nouncing that all was in readiness for their recep- 
tion ; so the hour for their departure was fixed 
upon. The distance to the camp was so great that 
they were to be two days upon their journey, 
spending the night at a ranch on their way, and 
reaching camp late on the following afternoon. 

By nine o’clock, the party had assembled at the 
Burnams’, ready for the start. They made an 
imposing cavalcade as they moved away down the 
street, for all but the older women were mounted 
on horseback. At the head of the procession rode 
Mr. Everett, Mr. Burnam, and Mr. Fisher, followed 
closely by the four boys, Allie and Marjorie, while 
Louise Everett, in her close-fitting dark green 
habit, cantered along in the rear, with Dr. Brown- 
lee by her side. Then came the three wagons, 
the first driven by Wang Kum, with Janey perched 
up on the high seat beside him, eyeing her com- 
panion askance while Mrs. Pennypoker, directly 
behind them, watched them both with an unswerv- 
ing vigilance, ready to check any sign of levity on 
the part of man or maid. Mrs. Pennypoker was 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 1 47 

attired with all her wonted nicety, and her prim 
black straw bonnet and decorous gloves formed a 
striking contrast to the plain rough-and-ready 
gowns and broad hats of the other matrons, who 
were more accustomed to the needs of the life 
before them. Last of all came the two baggage 
wagons, one carrying the tents and stove, the other 
laden with the generous stock of provisions which 
Mr. Burnam had laid in for his guests; while in 
and out among them all raced Ben in a series of 
mad, elephantine gambols, expressive of his joy at 
being started for the field again. 

Through the town they proceeded quietly 
enough ; then, when they came out into the open 
ground of the lower canon, the boys uttered a wild 
whoop, and dug tlieir heels into the flanks of their 
ponies, as they went scurrying away, far in advance 
of the rest of the party. 

“Just look at Charlie!” said Marjorie, as the 
boys turned to ride leisurely back to their com- 
panions once more. “ He acts as if he didn’t know 
what to do next.” 

“ He’s just about wild to be out again,” returned 
Allie, gathering up her reins preparatory to join- 
ing the lads at the head of the procession. “ You 
see, he was shut up ’most eight weeks, so I don’t 


148 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


wonder he wants to make up for it. I expect he ’ll 
break his neck, though ; for he ’s so near-sighted 
that he can’t see without his glasses, and of course 
he can’t wear them with that patch over his eye.” 

“How long is he going to wear it?” asked 
Marjorie soberly. 

“ I don’t know ; a good while, the doctor says, 
but I don’t think Charlie minds much, after the 
other.” 

“I suppose he came awfully near” — Marjorie 
paused, with a little shiver. 

Allie nodded understandingly. 

“ Yes ; he didn’t have any idea of it, though, till 
that day he met Dr. Hornblower at the Everetts’. 
After that he was dreadfully blue ; you know he 
wouldn’t stir out anywhere, for ever so long.” 

“ Say, Allie,” began Marjorie abruptly; “ do you 
remember that day before he was hurt? ” 

“When you were so cross?” inquired Allie 
mercilessly. 

“ Yes. Did Charlie ever say anything about it? ” 

“ Why, no,” answered Allie after a little reflec- 
tion. “ I don’t believe he ever thought of it 
again.” 

“ I am glad of it,” responded Marjorie ; but still 
she did not look altogether pleased. She would 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 


149 


have preferred that her words should carry a little 
more weight. Then she went on with her confes- 
sion, ‘‘Well, I kept thinking about it, till I began 
to feel as if I ’d done it all. You know I said I 
hoped something would happen. I wanted to 
come straight down here, that very night, but 
mamma wouldn’t let me, not even long enough to 
just say I was sorry; and then the doctor wouldn’t 
let any of us see him for ever so long, so I never 
said anything about it. Would you now, or would 
you let it go? ” 

“ I don’t know,” said Allie thoughtfully. “ Char- 
lie ’d never lay up anything of that kind ; but I 
always just like to say I ’m sorry, when I ’ve been 
hateful to him or Howard. It kind of smoothes 
things out ; but you can do as you like.” 

“ Hi, you girls ! ” exclaimed Grant, dashing past 
them at this moment, after capering about the 
wagons in a manner calculated to bring down Mrs. 
Pennypoker’s denunciations upon his yellow head. 
“What makes you so puppywented slow? Come 
on! ” 

“ All right 1 ” And Allie scampered off at his 
heels, sitting very straight and trim in her pretty 
new saddle. 

Howard and Ned went aftor them, and Charlie 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


150 

was just ready to follow when he heard some one 
coming up behind him on his blindfold side. 

Wait just one minute, Charlie,” said Marjorie’s 
voice in his ear. “ I want to say something to 
you — just to say” — She paused, and swallowed 
hard for a minute ; then she went on steadily, 
how sorry I ’ve been that I was so mean to you 
that day your eye was hurt. I wanted to tell you 
so right off then, but I couldn’t. But I kept 
thinking about it, all the time you were ill, and 
’twas most as bad as if I ’d thrown the ball.” 
Marjorie stopped; the very earnestness of her 
apology made’ it hard to utter. 

Charlie turned his head to look at her. He was 
surprised to see her face so pale and her lips 
trembling. 

“That’s all right enough, Marjorie,” he said 
heartily. “ I knew you didn’t mean it, and I didn’t 
think any more about it. Give us your fist, and 
then we ’ll go after the others.” 

Sunset, the next night, found the party comfort- 
ably established in their new quarters, on the very 
bank of the willow-bordered creek that plunged 
into the river, forty feet away. Across the creek 
and six hundred feet down the valley, dingy and 
brown with much service stood the tents of the 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 151 

engineering corps ; but the officers’ tent was 
deserted, for its occupants had come over to pay 
their respects at Camp Burnam, as the children 
had christened it. The site for the camp had been 
fixed upon, two days beforehand, and it was but the 
work of an hour to unpack the wagons and pitch 
the four tents which made up the outfit. At the 
south were the sleeping- tents, with Mrs. Burnam 
presiding over one, and Mr. Everett over the other, 
while at the east, close to the creek, were those 
given up to dining and cooking, where Janey and 
Wang Kum held sway by day, with many a wrangle 
over the possession of the little camp-stove, and 
many a heated discussion as to the relative merits 
of Asiatic and African cookery. 

The stove had been the first thing to be un- 
packed, and by the time the last guy-rope was 
made fast, the last roll of bedding opened and 
arranged in its place, the welcome call to supper 
was sounded, and they gathered about the long 
table, spread in the open air, in the golden sunset 
light. Then the elders settled themselves for the 
evening, glad to rest after their long ride, while 
the children raced up and down the camp, explor- 
ing all the nooks and corners of their little domain, 
before throwing themselves down on a pile of 


52 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. . 


blankets to watch the full moon as it rose from a 
bank of cloud just above the low hills to the east- 
ward, and threw its white light over their gay 
group. Fifteen feet away from them Mrs. Bur- 
nam sat in the doorway of her tent, with Louise at 
her feet. The girl’s golden hair was glistening in 
the moonlight, as she raised her head to speak to 
the topographer of the party, a sandy-haired, jovial 
young fellow, so lately come from “ Sheff ” that he 
retained all the slang and easy assurance of the 
genuine college boy. Ten months of camp life had 
made him hail with delight the prospect of paying 
court to a pretty girl ; and he had attached him- 
self to her side to the utter exclusion of Dr. 
Brownlee and the grave, taciturn leveller, who had 
retired from the contest and was devoting himself 
to Mrs. Burnam, whom he had known for years. 
For a few moments, the doctor stood looking on; 
then he turned away and joined the group of chil- 
dren, who received him enthusiastically. 

“ I ’ll tell you what, this is fine ! ” said Charlie 
contentedly, while the doctor seated himself by his 
side, and the boy stretched himself out at full 
length, with his head on his friend’s knee, and lay 
staring up at the moon. “ This is something I ’ve 
never tried before, and always wanted to.” 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 


153 


“Which?” inquired Allie, as she bent over to 
tickle his nose with a long straw stolen from the 
bedding; “taking up twice as much room as 
belongs to you, or looking at the moon ? ” 

“ Camping out, of course,” answered her cousin, 
curling up his feet, in deference to her words. 
“ Looking at the moon, too, for that matter ; for I 
didn’t see much of the last one.” 

“ Speaking of moons,” interposed Grant, from 
the corner where he and Marjorie and Howard 
had been chattering and giggling together ; “ the 
last two days have been no end hard on the storm 
center; and I think we shall catch a blizzard soon, 
by the looks. Just see her now ! ” 

Grant’s comment was in part justified, for the 
past two days had been undeniably hard upon Mrs. 
Pennypoker’s appearance. The sun is no respecter 
of persons, and he had beaten down upon her 
majestic Greek nose with precisely the same 
fervent caresses which he had lavished upon 
Marjorie’s freckled pug. Unfortunately, Mrs. Pen- 
nypoker’s neat little straw bonnet was by no means 
so good a protection as Marjorie’s soft scarlet felt 
hat, with its broad, flapping brim, and, even in the 
cold light of the moon, Mrs. Pennypoker’s coun- 
tenance gleamed with the luster of polished ma- 


154 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


hogany, which was enhanced by the great white 
kerchief that she had tied over her head, to keep 
out the evening air. No urging could induce her 
to sit on a blanket on the ground ; so, in the 
absence of upholstered chairs, Mr. Everett had 
arranged a wooden pail against a tall box, cush- 
ioned them both with Straw and blankets, and 
mounted his cousin upon this rustic throne, where 
she sat with her skirts carefully tucked up about 
her and her nose in the air, looking as much out 
of place as a Dresden china dinner service would 
have done on the rough board table. 

Howard laughed, as he looked at her. 

“ I should think Wang would like her, to put 
her in his Joss house,” he said disrespectfully. 
“What’ll she ever do, before two weeks are up? 
She ’ll be a case for the doctor, sure enough.” 

“We ought to have brought Dr. Hornblower 
along, to amuse her,” suggested Grant. “ Come, 
I ’m tired of this ; let ’s have a game of ‘ I spy.’ 
This moonlight would be fine for it. Come on, 
Ned ! ” 

“Where?” inquired Ned lazily, for he was thor- 
oughly absorbed in the story that Dr. Brownlee 
was telling. 

“ ‘ I spy ’ ; anything to get waked up.” 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 


155 


“ Sha’n’t. I ’m too comfortable to move.” 

“ Allie?” 

“ Don’t want to,” replied Allie, without stirring 
from her place beside Ned. 

“ Charlie — anybody? ” demanded Grant. 

“What’s the use? I can’t see enough without 
my gigs.” 

“ Lazy things ! Don’t disturb them, Grant,” 
said Marjorie scornfuiiy. “ If this is the way 
you ’re going to do, I wish we ’d left you at home. 
Grant, we’ll hide, and let Howard find us. Come 
ahead ! ” And they vanished into the shadow 
beside the cooking tent. 

Three minutes later there was a vigorous splash, 
followed by a shriek from Marjorie, which brought 
the whole party flying to the spot. Down in the 
shallow creek sat Grant, blinking up at them in 
bewilderment, as he wiped the water from his eyes. 

“What’s the matter? ” asked Howard, as Mr. 
Burnam helped the boy to scramble to his feet, 
and up the steep bank of the stream. 

“ Wish you ’d whitewash those guy-ropes ! ” 
responded Grant petulantly. “ I tripped over ’em, 
and they landed me in that squdgy old creek. 
Marj needn’t have squealed like a cat, though, and 
given it all away.” 


156 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ ‘ If this is the way you ’re going to do, I wish 
we ’d left you at home,’ ” quoted Allie majestically, 
as she surveyed the dripping boy before her. I 
think Charlie has his spectacles in his pocket. 
Grant, if you’d like to borrow them.” 

However, this ended the frolic of the evening, 
for Mrs. Pennypoker summarily seized upon the 
young explorer and ordered him to bed, while 
Wang Kum spread his clothes to dry before the 
fire. The other boys soon followed Grant’s ex- 
ample, and the older people with them ; so, after 
much wriggling and nestling about in the blankets, 
they at last dropped to sleep, and silence descended 
upon Camp Burnam. 

Camp life began in earnest the next day, and 
for the next two weeks the party enjoyed one 
perpetual picnic. The children were up and out 
by daybreak, ready for the long days of fun, and 
by seven o’clock the breakfast call had sounded 
to gather them around the long table. It was 
good to see Wang Kum, tin horn in hand, emerge 
from his improvised kitchen, and blow the deep 
blast which should summon his flock to the meal ; 
it was good to see Janey follow in his wake, armed 
with the great coffee-pot and a pile of light hoe- 
cakes, and then rush up and down behind the 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 


57 


chairs, trying to serve them all at once, while she 
struggled in vain to repress an inclination to 
prance, and never failed to give a vigorous tweak 
to Wang Kum’s pigtail, as she passed him. The 
relation between the two servants was unique, and, 
at times, somewhat strained. Although Wang 
Kum, left to himself, would have been the most 
peaceable of mortals, Janey persisted in treating 
him as an embodied joke, and lost no oppor- 
tunity to tease and torment him, until he came to 
regard her with a strange mingling of hatred and 
fear. 

“Wang tell Mis’ Pen’plok’,” he would mutter, 
with a threatening glance from his beady eyes. 

“ 01’ mis’ won’ believe you,” Janey would make 
answer. “ She knows dat you ’s a heathen, an’ 
won’ go to church. Cut off your great long plat, 
ef you don’ wan’ me to pull it no mo’. I cyarn’ 
help it, ef it gits in my way, all de time.” And 
then she would slyly lift the tip of the offending 
member and lay it across the table, before setting 
her heavy iron dish pan upon it. “ Don’ you year 
of mis’ calling you?” she would ask then. “Take 
care ! Don’ upset all my dish tub ! ” And the war 
would begin again. 

The weather left nothing to be desired, and. 


15.8 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

the party usually scattered soon after breakfast. 
The older men went on long hunting expeditions, 
in pursuit of the game which generally proved to 
be just over the divide ; or explored the creek in 
search of trout, — great, rich-flavored fellows, which 
put to shame the tiny products of our Eastern 
streams. The boys, in the mean time, made friends 
with the engineers, and spent whole days in the 
field. Howard and Ned attached themselves to 
the transitman, and took turns as head and rear 
chain, while Grant superintended the levelling, and 
Charlie trudged along in the rear with the young 
topographer, who had taken a sudden fancy to the 
boy, and gave him frequent lectures on the theory 
and practice of surveying, until his pupil longed 
for the time when he too could wear on his watch- 
chain the tiny blue shield, with its golden date and 
initials. 

Then there were long rides up and down the 
valley, and merry evenings in camp, when they 
told over the adventures of the day, played games, 
or sang college songs to the tinkling notes of the 
mandolin which Louise had brought with her. 
There was an elaborate afternoon tea, when Mrs. 
Burnam and Louise devoted their entire supply of 
tin plates and cups to the entertainment of the 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. 


159 


whole corps of engineers, down to the very axmen, 
and feasted them upon the miscellaneous delicacies 
concocted by Janey and Wang. Three days later, 
this hospitality was returned by a grand dinner- 
party at the lower camp, when venison and trout 
were the main dishes of the meal, and the table 
was set and served with a masculine disregard for 
appearances. 

But the last night of their holiday had to come. 
Evening found them all gathered at Camp Burnam, 
watching the darkness settle around their pleasant 
forest home. Both camps were to be struck on 
the following day, for the engineering party was to 
move down the river at the same time that the 
others started for home. 

“ I have only two things to mourn about,” said 
Charlie meditatively. “ I haven’t shot a single 
bear, and I haven’t even seen the tail of a cayote.” 

“Wish you had; ’t would have been such fun 
to see you turn and run,” responded Ned, as he 
indolently settled himself with his head on Ben’s 
side. 

“ Poor old Ben ! Does he use you for a pillow? ” 
asked Marjorie, stooping to stroke the great creat- 
ure’s head. 

“ I say, Marjorie, stop that,” remonstrated How- 


6o 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


ard suddenly. “ When you pet that end of him, 
this end wags, and his tail whacks awfully. Do let 
him go to sleep, or else warn me, so I can get out 
of the way.” 

You ’d better try this, you fellows,” advised 
Ned. It’s fine ; the best bed I ’ve had since I left 
home.” 

“What’s going on here?” asked Df. Brownlee, 
moving up to the group, in company with Louise 
and her faithful attendant, the topographer, just 
as Howard and Charlie stretched themselves out 
beside Ned. 

“ Nothing, only they ’re getting ready for a nap,” 
said Allie. “ Don’t you wish we didn’t have to go 
home to-morrow?” 

“ I do,” groaned Charlie. “ I never had so 
much fun before, and I don’t want to go back to 
town again. I believe I ’ll run off and set up in 
life as a brave. Will you come, too, Allie?” 

“ Not if I have to live in a wick-i-up three feet 
square, and wear your cast-off blankets,” she an- 
swered, with some spirit. “ I ’m just about the 
right color for a squaw, though ; that is, if I look 
as badly as the rest of you do.” 

“Thank you, dear,” returned Howard laughing. 
“ You ’re at least ten shades blacker than anybody 


CAMPING ON THE BEAVERHEAD. l6l 

else ; and Charlie is so dark that his patch hasn’t 
showed any for five days.” 

“How about the freckles?” inquired Charlie 
composedly. “ I don’t care ; I ’ve had a good 
time, and maybe ’t won’t be fast color.” 

“ It won’t hurt you, Charlie,” remarked the 
doctor. “ You started off looking rather too 
white, after living in the dark for a month. This 
camping trip has been the best thing you could 
have had.” 

The two weeks had certainly done the boy 
good, and, removed from any temptation to use 
his eyes, he had given them the utter rest which 
they demanded, until they had nearly regained 
their former strength. Dr. Brownlee watched 
him approvingly for a moment. Notwithstanding 
the dark sunburn on his cheeks and the shade 
over his right eye, it was an attractive face, in 
spite of its lack of real beauty, such as had fal- 
len to the share of Ned and Grant. 

“ It has been immense,” said the boy regret- 
fully. “ But maybe we can come out again, next 
summer.” 

“ Don’t flatter yourself with any such notion,” 
said Howard. “ If you ’d been with papa as long 
as I have, you ’d know that there isn’t much 
chance of our being here, by another summer. 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


162 

He may be ordered to Alaska or Arizona, by that 
time ; and we ’ll have to ‘ hoppee ’long, too.’ ” 

“Just this way,” interposed Grant, starting up 
abruptly with an inviting chirrup to Ben, who 
scrambled to his feet with a suddenness which 
sent the three boys rolling into an indiscriminate 
pile among the blankets, as their pillow went 
rushing away across the camp, in pursuit of some 
imaginary intruder. 

It was late that night when the party finally 
broke up and went to their tents ; it was later still 
before the usual gentle snores arose from Mrs. Pen- 
nypoker’s corner. Soon afterwards, the silence of 
the night was broken by the sound of stealthy 
footsteps, coming up the river bank from the 
engineers’ tents. A moment later, the music from 
a full orchestra of combs roused the sleepers from 
their dreams. 

“Farewell, farewell, my own true love!” they 
wailed, in a gusty and oft-repeated chorus, until 
even Ben’s feelings overpowered him, and, run- 
ning to the door of the tent, he raised his nose 
towards the waning moon, and howled till his 
voice was husky. Then the swaying curtain at 
the doorway of the tent dropped once more, and 
all was still. The play was over, and the orches- 
tra had ceased. Camp Burnam’s story was ended. 


CHAPTER X. 


UP THE GULCH. 

“ I DO believe every-day things are pleasantest, 
after all,” said Allie contentedly. 

It was a month after their camping party, and 
she and her mother were comfortably settled in the 
parlor, with the mending basket between them. 
The windows and doors were thrown wide open, 
and the room was flooded with the yellow sunlight 
that lay across the floor, while the warm Septem- 
ber wind softly fluttered the light draperies. Out- 
side the door, on the piazza, Ben lay snoozing in 
the sun, sleepily wagging his tail in some happy 
dream of full-flavored bones or trespassing cats; 
and beyond him Victor was trudging up and down 
the path in front of the house, laden with a tiny 
scarlet pail filled with sand. Allie glanced thought- 
fully about the pretty room, and out at her baby 
brother ; then she turned back to her mother 
again, as Mrs. Burnam asked, — 

“ How do you mean, Allie? ” 

Why, after all our camping and fun, it seems 
163 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


164 

good to sit down and visit a little, mammy. Don’t 
you see, we haven’t had a chance for ever so long, 
not since Charlie was hurt ; and 1 enjoy it, once in 
a while. The other is fun ; but I like to stop and 
talk it over sometimes.” And Allie paused medi- 
tatively, with one of Howard’s long stockings drawn 
over her hand. 

“Yes, I know,” her mother answered, while she 
trimmed a patch to fit the hole which it was in- 
tended to fill ; “ we haven’t had a quiet afternoon 
for a long time, hardly since Charlie came out 
here, last spring. You ’ve been so busy with the 
boys that I didn’t know whether you ’d ever enjoy 
sitting down with me any more.” 

“ Yes, this is nicest,” said Allie. “ The boys 
aren’t you, any more than Charlie is Howard. I 
like them both ; but f need you to straighten out 
things sometimes.” 

“What is it now?” asked her mother quietly, 
for she saw from Allie’s face that something was 
troubling her, and, mother-like, she wished to help 
her little daughter. 

“Why, it isn’t so much; only something that 
Grant was telling, something Mrs. Pennypoker 
said, ” answered Allie, while she threaded her 
needle and stuck it in beside the hole. Then she 


UP THE GULCH. I65 

asked abruptly, “ Mamma, is it true that Charlie 
has ever so much money? ” 

“Yes; that is, he will have, when he grows 
up,” replied Mrs. Burnam, a little surprised at the 
question, for she had tried to train her children 
to feel that wealth was by no means the main end 
in life. 

“How much?” persisted Allie. 

“ A great deal, for Uncle Charlie was a rich man, 
and our Charlie is his only child.” 

“ Oh ! ” And Allie lapsed into silence again. 

“ What made you ask, Allie ? ” her mother in- 
quired, after a pause. 

“Nothing; only Mrs. Pennypoker said some- 
body told her he was very rich, and that was the 
reason you ’d let him come here, so maybe we 
could get some of it; and she asked Mrs. Penny- 
poker if she hadn’t seen the way I hadn’t had so 
much to do with Ned and Marjorie since he ’d been 
here, and all. Wasn’t it horrid, mamma?” 

Mrs. Burnam frowned. She was sorry to have 
such ideas put into the head of her young daugh- 
ter; and, during the past five months, she had 
grown to feel that Charlie was almost one of her 
own children; so the worldly-wise tone of these 
comments grated upon her ears. 


1 66 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

“ Grant had no right to tell you this,” she said 
thoughtfully. 

“ I don’t care if he did,” Allie interrupted. “ I 
knew ’t wasn’t true, and I told him that I didn’t 
think Charlie had any money, and we didn’t want 
any of it, if he had; we’d plenty of our own. 
But I wish people wouldn’t talk such things. I 
like Ned and Marjorie just as well as I used to; 
but when Charlie’s here in the house, and just as 
splendid as he can be, I don’t see why I shouldn’t 
like him better. Nobody minded when I was with 
Howard ’most all the time, and Charlie ’s just like 
another brother.” And she nodded conclusively 
as she resumed her work. 

Mrs. Burnam watched her steadily for a moment, 
trying to read whether there was any unspoken 
thought in her daughter’s mind ; but Allie looked 
up, and her blue eyes met her mother’s so squarely 
that Mrs. Burnam was satisfied. 

“ Charlie does seem just like one of us,” she 
assented heartily ; “ and I know we ’ve all enjoyed 
his being out here ; but it isn’t because he ’s rich 
that we ’ve liked him, it ’s because he ’s just what 
he is, a bright, manly boy, without any airs or 
nonsense. Aunt Helen asked to have him 
come to us, because he hadn’t any other cousins ; 


UP THE GULCH. 


167 


and it would have been a pleasant six months for 
all of us, if it hadn’t been for his terrible illness.” 
Mrs. Burnam paused ; she could never speak of 
his accident without a shudder. 

“ I ’m glad it happened,” returned Allie proudly. 
“ If it hadn’t, we shouldn’t ever have known how 
brave he was. And, besides, if it hadn’t been for 
that, we never should have known Dr. Brownlee 
half so well, and he wouldn’t have gone into camp 
with us ; so you see there was some good came 
out of it. But didn’t we have a fine time in camp, 
mammy? ” 

“Yes, I think our camping trip was a success, 
in more ways than one,” said Mrs. Burnam, smiling 
quietly to herself, as she recalled certain scenes in 
which Louise and the doctor had played a part. 
There was no doubt in her mind about the enjoy- 
ment of two of their number, however the others 
might have looked upon it. 

“ But, after all,” resumed Allie, going back to 
her original statement; “ I do like getting settled 
down again ; and this vacation has been so stirred 
up that I believe I shall be glad to have some les- 
sons once more.” 

“ Here comes Ned,” said her mother, glancing 
up from her work as the boy turned the corner 


1 68 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

and came up the street towards the house. ‘‘ He ’s 
probably after you and the boys for some frolic or 
other.” 

“ All right; I Ve just finished my last stocking. 
Did you ever see anybody make such holes as 
Howard does?” And she rolled the stockings 
into a ball and tossed them into the basket, as Ned 
came up the steps. 

“ Hullo ! ” he remarked, dropping into the 
chair from which Allie had just risen, and helping 
himself to her orderly work-basket. ‘‘ Where are 
the other fellows?” 

“ They Ve gone up the creek fishing,” answered 
Allie, watching, with an anxious face, while Ned 
investigated her papers of needles, and then turned 
his attention to her button bag. 

“ They must want something to do,” returned 
Ned scornfully. “ I should think you about lived 
on fish, up here.” 

“ They don’t often catch anything,” said Mrs. 
Burnam, laughing; “ not even colds. Howard fell 
into the creek, day before yesterday, and then sat 
around in his wet clothes all the afternoon ; but it 
didn’t seem to hurt him any.” 

“ I tried that once,” said Ned, as he stealthily 
put the basket on the floor, just behind Allie, 


UP THE GULCH. 


169 


where she could not fail to step in it and overturn 
it; but I had the worst of it, for Cousin Euphemia 
saw me when I came home. She put me to bed, 
right in the middle of the day, and made me take 
some hot ginger-tea. Ugh, what a mess ’t was ! 
I ’d rather have had a dozen colds than be choked 
to death, and left to stew in a flannel blanket. But 
what I came to say, Allie — Oh, isn’t that too 
bad ! You Ve upset your basket.” 

“What a wretch you are, Ned!” And Allie 
slyly dropped a large, flat button down inside his 
collar, as she stooped to pick up her scattered 
treasures. “ You Ve done this before, and I know 
just how sorry you are.” 

“ I didn’t do a single thing,” returned Ned 
innocently. “ How ’d I know you were going to 
put your foot in it that way? But I stopped to 
see if some of you didn’t want to go up the gulch 
this afternoon. It ’s not so very warm, and Lou 
and Grant are going, so I said I ’d hurry on ahead 
and get you to come too. Here they are, now.” 

“I’ll go; wait till I get my hat.” And Allie 
vanished. 

“ Come along too, Mrs. Burnam,” said Ned per- 
suasively. 

“I wish I could, Ned; but I must stay with 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


170 

Vic, for Janey has gone out this afternoon. You ’d 
better stop in here, all of you, when you come 
back, though. The boys will be home by that 
time, and I want to see Louise, too,” she added, 
as Ned and Allie went down the steps. 

At the west side of the town, the mountains rose 
up, sheer and straight, their slopes ending abruptly 
at the outer streets, which were carefully laid out 
and numbered, although no houses had yet been 
built there. However, the low, even ground was 
elaborately divided into blocks, and the blocks, 
in their turn, into building lots, to be in readiness 
for the possible purchaser, who might appear at 
an^ moment. On the boundary line between the 
town and this suburban region was the little brick 
school-house ; and beyond it lay the open ground 
which now, in the absence of any inhabitants, was 
still used as a wood yard for the distant smelter, 
whose constant fires easily devoured the vast piles 
of wood daily unloaded by the trains which ran 
down the spur of track leading to the yard. 
Beyond this again were the mountains, which rose 
to their highest point just to the west of the town, 
where the tips of the tallest peaks were always 
blanketed with the soft, white piles of snow. At 
only one spot their unbroken front was interrupted, 


UP THE GULCH. 


where a deep, narrow ravine led far up among the 
mountains, forming a delightful walk in a warm 
summer day. After the burning glare on the dry, 
sandy soil of the town, which, in its barren lack of 
grass and trees, stared back at the sun like a lid- 
less, lashless eye, the cool shadows of the pines in 
the gulch were a refreshing change. The little 
gulch had its variety of names : Bear Gulch, it was 
called, Lover’s Gulch, and even Cemetery Gulch, 
from the lonely burial ground perched on the top 
of the rugged bluff at its entrance. 

Ned and Allie had taken the lead, with Louise 
and Grant following close behind them, as they 
picked their way among the countless tin cans 
scattered over the fields, or paused to look and 
laugh while the boys clambered to the top of the 
long wood-piles, and ran slow, unsteady races over 
their uneven surfaces. Then they came out to the 
track, and followed along its course, where Ned 
and Allie joined hands and walked the rails, and 
Grant trudged along behind them, stepping with 
an elaborate care upon each one of the ties, or 
leaping over occasional cattle-guards, as they 
crossed his path. 

They were far past the western houses of the 
town, and rapidly approaching the foot of the 


iy2 


IN blue creek canon. 


mountain, when Ned gave Allie’s hand a violent 
twitch. 

“ Look back ! ” he exclaimed in an undertone. 

With a little cry of alarm, Allie sprang from the 
track ; then, as she glanced back over her shoulder, 
she burst out laughing. 

“ How you scared me, Ned ! ” she said, as she 
stopped abruptly. “I thought ’t was a train, but 
it ’s only Dr. Hornblower.” 

True enough ; up the track behind them came 
the excellent doctor, waving his cane in amicable 
salutation, as he strode along at a pace which 
might have put to shame the wearer of the famous 
seven-league boots. His leathery skin was dark 
and shining from the violence of his exercise, as he 
came sweeping on towards them, till he paused by 
the side of Louise, who watched him with some 
anxiety while he stood wheezing and panting 
before her. 

“ My dear Miss Everett,” he said, when he could 
regain his breath enough to speak once more ; 
“ are you not afraid to walk so rapidly at this 
altitude? I fear you may over-exert yourself 
some day.” He paused for a moment, puffing like 
the engine of an overloaded freight train ; then he 
resumed, “ I called at your residence, and was so 


UP THE GULCH. 


173 


regretful at not finding you at home that your 
cousin, Mrs. Pennypoker, told me that you were 
bound for the gulch, and assured me that there 
was — um — some prospect of my overtaking, not 
to say catching up with you.” 

“Are you out on the round-up again to-day. 
Dr. Hornblower?” asked Ned soberly. 

The Reverend Gabriel looked at him with a per- 
plexed countenance. 

“ I am afraid that I do not perfectly apprehend 
your meaning,” he said. 

“ Why, you said, last time you called on Lou, 
that you were hunting up stray sheep, and I didn’t 
know but you were out after some more to-day,” 
Ned explained, with a naughty satisfaction in his 
sister’s struggles to repress her smiles. 

But Dr. Hornblower was quite unmoved. His 
professional dignity rose to the surface, and his 
voice took on its Sunday twang as he replied 
pompously, — 

“No, Edward; the sheep are all in the fold. 
To-day I am only in search of congenial society.” 
And he bowed gravely to Louise. 

“ Come on, now,” whispered Grant, as he joined 
Allie and Ned in advance, and left Louise to follow 
them with her elderly admirer ; “ the doctor ’s lost 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


174 

his wind already, and can’t keep up; but, if he 
wants a walk, we ’ll give him one.” 

His companions entered into the spirit of his 
proposition, and they quickened their pace, after 
casting one backward glance towards Louise, as 
she lingered along, with a sort of repressed impa- 
tience of step and manner, while she listened to 
the Reverend Gabriel’s elaborate explanations of 
his reasons for following her. Then such a race 
as they led him ! Quitting the track, they turned 
aside into the open ground, covered with uneven 
tufts of coarse bunch grass and thickets of sage 
brush, now racing down a little hillock, now jump- 
ing over a tiny stream and forcing their way 
through the clumps of willows on the bank, but 
always choosing the roughest, hardest path, and 
always going at the top of their speed, while Louise 
and the doctor panted and floundered along too 
far in the rear to be heard in their calls for mercy. 
Even Allie was beginning to be exhausted when, 
a few hundred feet above the mouth of the 
gulch. Grant turned abruptly to the right and 
scrambled up the steep hillside leading to the 
cemetery. 

“ There ! ” he chuckled, while Ned and Allie, 
breathless with laughing and with their rapid climb. 


UP THE GULCH. 


175 


dropped down on the ground beside him; “we’ll 
give him a rest when he gets up here. If he ’s 
going to come along and spoil all our fun, he must 
pay for it; but he ’ll be tired by this time.” 

“ I wonder if he ’ll ever get up here alive,” said 
Allie, as she reached out to the nearest bush, to 
pick a bit of fur from the twig which had caught 
it from some passing cottontail. “ You almost 
used me up, and I don’t believe Miss Lou could 
have gone on much farther, so I shouldn’t wonder 
if he was pretty nearly dead.” 

“Well, ’t would be a nice, convenient place for 
the funeral; only I shouldn’t be surprised if he 
stuck, half way up here,” suggested Ned, comfort- 
ably lying on his back, and fanning himself with the 
hat which Allie had tossed aside. “ No ; here he 
comes,” he added, as the Reverend Gabriel’s wide- 
brimmed straw hat and flushed face appeared over 
the brow of the hill, followed by Louise, looking 
rosy and mischievous, but as fresh as she had done 
at the start. 

“ Come over to this tree, doctor, and sit down here 
in the shade while you rest,” she said kindly, as she 
led the way to the spot where the boys were 
stretched out on the grass. 

There was an unwonted gentleness in her voice, 


176 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


for she had been quick to discover the impish in- 
tention of her brothers, and was anxious to atone 
for their lack of courtesy towards an acquaintance 
whom she had always regarded as an old man, on 
the down-hill side of life. In spite of herself she 
had been amused at the doctor’s frantic efforts to 
keep up with her own firm, quick pace, and at his 
urgent entreaties that she should tell him if he 
walked too fast for her. Nevertheless, as she 
seated herself beside her young brothers, she was 
resolving to give them a lecture upon the sins of 
the afternoon, so soon as she could get them in a 
place of safety. 

In the mean time, the doctor appeared to be 
strangely annoyed over something, although she 
was unable to discover the cause of his trouble. 
In obedience to her inviting gesture, he had spread 
out his large blue silk handkerchief on the ground 
by her side, and seated himself upon it. Then he 
started to remove his hat; but he had.no sooner 
raised it a little from his head than he hastily 
clapped it on again, with a little exclamation of 
surprise and displeasure. 

I do hope that these bad boys haven’t given 
you too hard a climb, doctor,” Louise was saying 
politely, while she turned to frown down any fresh 


UP THE GULCH. 1 77 

demonstrations on the part of Grant, who was evi- 
dently plotting some new mischief. 

“ Um — m — ah — no — at least, I beg your 
pardon, but what was it you said ? ” inquired the 
doctor, so abstractedly that Louise looked at him 
in astonishment. 

The Reverend Gabriel sat with his face slightly 
turned away from her. He was tilting his hat so 
that, on the farther side, it was raised an inch or 
two from his head, while, with his disengaged hand, 
he was feeling carefully about underneath it, as if 
in search of some missing object. His face, mean- 
while, was rapidly assuming every appearance of 
trouble and distress, which became more and more 
acute with every fresh motion of his hand. Louise 
watched him compassionately, sure that something 
was amiss, but not daring to offer to come to his 
assistance ; then, thinking to spare him any added 
mortification, she looked away towards the valley. 

A lovely picture lay at her feet, for the canon 
opened out before her eyes in all the grandeur of 
its mountainous surroundings, while the little town 
in its bosom was softened and beautified by the 
kindly autumnal haze, which took away the crude 
shabbiness of its detail and brought it into har- 
mony with the rugged landscape about it. Beyond 


178 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


the town lay the creek, and over it all floated the 
heavy pall of thick white smoke, which seemed to 
be supported on the tall red chimneys of the 
smelter buildings. The sun was dropping behind 
the mountains, and already the town lay in shadow, 
while the last beams lingered upon the cloud of 
smoke which flushed to a pale pink, then deep- 
ened to a rosy glow. The girl’s eyes rested on the 
scene below her ; then, surprised at the continued 
silence of her escort, she glanced at him once more. 
He was still groping about underneath his hat, 
with the same strained, upward roll to his eyes ; 
but, as she looked at him, a new light burst in 
upon Louise’s mind, for two long locks of tawny 
hair had straggled down over his right ear, and 
lay in a feeble ringlet against the top of his tall 
collar. The Reverend Gabriel’s wrist brushed 
against them ; he felt of them inquiringly ; then he 
deliberately took off his hat to show the top of his 
head shorn of the glory of his curl, and the long 
ends of hair hanging in elf locks about his face. 

“ Miss — um — Miss Everett,” he began hesitat- 
ingly, while a dark flush rose on his weather- 
beaten cheeks ; “ Miss Everett, I am exceedingly 
sorry to trouble you, but” — he paused; then 
went on desperately ; “ in fact, could you be good 


UP THE GULCH. 


179 


enough to lend me a hairpin? The exertion of 
my climb has removed mine from its accustomed 
place, and I fear that my hair may be slightly 
disarranged.” 

The silence that followed was unbroken while 
Louise felt about among her braids and drew out 
a long, slender pin ; but when the doctor put his 
hat down on the ground by his side, carefully 
rolled up his hair over his two forefingers, spread 
it into the usual long curl, and fastened it into its 
place, Allie and Ned fell into an uncontrollable fit 
of giggling. But, for the once. Grant’s attention 
was distracted, for he was gazing steadily towards 
the engine house at the mouth of the mine. 

“ Say, Lou,” he exclaimed ; “ what ’s going on 
down there? Everybody’s rushing over to the 
mine ; something must be wrong.” 

Louise’s eyes followed the direction of his hand. 

“ There ’s some trouble, down there,” she said, 
rising abruptly. “ Will you excuse us. Dr. Horn- 
blower, if we go down without waiting to get 
rested? I am always a little anxious about my 
father.” And she hurried away down the hill, 
leaving the Reverend Gabriel to adjust his hairpin 
at his ease, while he reflected upon the unsatis- 
factory nature of his walk. 


CHAPTER XL 


“ SWEET charity’s SAKE.” 

“ You see,” Howard was explaining to Ned, that 
evening, “ he ’d put in his charge for the blast, and 
was tamping it down all right; but he kicked 
over his drill, and the end fell on an extra pack- 
age of giant powder.” 

“ I know that,” interrupted Ned. “ Papa said 
he was outrageously careless, to have any of the 
stuff lying around loose; and ’twas a wonder that 
there weren’t any more men near enough to be 
killed. Poor old Mike ! He ’s worked in the mine 
ever since ’t was first opened, and he was one of 
their best men.” 

“ I don’t see how he came to be so careless, 
then,” said Marjorie, wisely shaking her head over 
the matter. “ I should suppose he ’d have known 
better by this time.” 

“ They do know better,” said Ned thoughtfully; 
“ only they ge-t hardened to the risk and don’t 
think much about it, or else say their luck will 
hold out. But Mike has the worst of it. Do you 
180 


“SWEET charity’s SAKE.” l8l 

know, this is the first accident in the Blue Creek I 
ever remember, and I used to see Mike ’most 
every day, so I can’t get to believe it a bit. It 
seems as if it couldn’t be true.” 

“ Papa was all broken up to-night,” added 
Grant. “ He knows all the old foremen, and 
Mike was the best one of them all.” 

“ I believe I ’d rather die ’most any way than 
be blown up,” said Allie, with a shudder. “ It 
must be so hard for his family. But didn’t you 
say somebody else was hurt, Howard?” 

“ Just one boy,” answered Howard, rising and 
walking nervously about the room, as the scene 
came freshly to his mind. “ I don’t know who 
he was, for nobody seemed to be sure of his 
name. He had dark hair, and was about Charlie 
Mac ’s size, I should think. They brought him 
up in the cage just as Charlie and I stopped at 
the shaft, and the first thing we knew, we were 
right beside him.” 

“ What’s it going to do to him? asked Marjorie, 
as her bright face grew very serious at the picture 
that Howard had brought before her. 

“ No one knew, for the doctor wasn’t there, of 
course, and they took him right off home. Papa 
said he was an English boy that lived over the 


i 82 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


creek,” said Grant, stretching himself out on the 
sofa, with his heels on the cushion. 

Marjorie sprang up and shook herself, with a 
little shiver. 

“ Don’t let ’s talk about it any more,” she ex- 
claimed. It just makes me sick to think of it.” 

“ But it ’s there, all the same, whether we talk 
about it or not ; and if you ’d seen it, as we did, 
you couldn’t forget it, even if you did keep still,” 
said Howard soberly ; and Allie added, — 

“ Besides, maybe if we talk about it we can 
find out there ’s something to do, to help out.” 

For an hour, the five young people, gathered 
in the Everetts’ parlor, had been telling over the 
details of the accident. As Ned had said, it had 
been a long time since the Blue Creek had been 
visited by an accident like those which so fre- 
quently occurred in the neighboring mines, and 
this, killing, as it did, one of the oldest and best- 
known of the miners, had created an intense ex- 
citement in the little town. Immediately following 
the explosion, there had been put in circulation a 
report of the accident so exaggerated that it had 
brought to the spot the wives of half the miners in 
the camp, each one of whom was confident that her 
husband was among the twenty or more men said 


“SWEET charity’s SAKE.” 183 

to have been killed. It had been this hasty gath- 
ering which had caught Grant’s eye ; and the 
Everetts and Allie had hurried down into the 
town just in time to learn the truth that but one 
man was killed, and to watch the excited groups 
as they slowly dispersed, so noisy in their joy that 
their own friends had escaped, that they forgot to 
give more than a passing thought to poor, careless 
Mike, whose working days were ended. But that 
came later; and among all his mourners there 
were none more sincere than the little group at 
the Everetts’, who knew and appreciated the real 
worth of the jovial, brawny Irishman, whose pleas- 
ant word and helping hand were extended to all 
with whom he ever came in contact. They were 
still talking of him when the bell rang; and, a 
moment later, Wang Kum ushered Dr. Brownlee 
into the parlor. At sight of him, Marjorie sprang 
up impulsively. 

“ Oh, doctor, tell us about the poor boy ! How 
is he ? ” she asked abruptly, without waiting for 
any formal greeting. 

“ If you mean the one who was hurt at the mine 
this afternoon,” the doctor was beginning, when 
Ned hastily interposed, — 

“ Hold on a minute, Dr. Brownlee ; but don’t 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


184 

sit down in that chair. There ’s something wrong 
about the stuff it’s covered with; ’t isn’t real 
leather, and it melts and gets sticky in summer, or 
when there ’s a hot fire. You ’d better steer clear 
of it. We mean to keep it out of the way.” 

“ You might use it for a trap,” suggested the 
doctor laughingly, as he pushed aside the great 
easy-chair, and settled himself in a willow rocker. 
Then his face grew grave again, as he turned back 
to Marjorie. “ He ’s as badly hurt as he can be,” 
he went on. “ He’ll get over it, but he’ll never 
be able to do anything more. He hasn’t come to 
his senses yet, and I wish he needn’t, for the 
present, for he has a hard time before him,” he 
added, as he rose to meet Louise, who came into 
the room just then. 

“ I ’m a little upset to-night,” he said apologeti- 
cally, in answer to her exclamation about the cold- 
ness of his hand. “ To be perfectly honest, this is 
my first accident case ; and it ’s a very different 
thing from seeing people quietly ill in bed, even if 
you know they can’t get well. I was at the house 
when they brought him in, and I hope I sha’n’t 
often have to go through such a scene again.” 

“ Tell me about it,” said Louise, with a gentle 
sympathy which lent a new grace to her beauty. 


SWEET charity’s SAKE.” 185 

“ I ’m not afraid to hear, and perhaps I can do 
something for them by and by.” 

And the doctor told, forgetting himself, and 
even the charming young woman before him, as he 
went on with the story of the mother’s frantic 
sorrow over her only son, of the boy’s half-con- 
scious suffering, and of the long, helpless life before 
him. The girl’s eyes filled with tears as she 
listened, though her pity for the lad was mingled 
with a new admiration for the speaker. The tale 
did not lie entirely in the mere words describing 
the accident; but, under all that, it told of the 
generous, kindly sympathy of the true doctor, who 
shrinks from the sight of pain, even while he gives 
his life to watching and helping it. 

Two weeks later Marjorie was spending a stormy 
afternoon at the Burnams’, when Ned appeared on 
the piazza. 

“ Hullo ! ” he exclaimed, as he furled his drip- 
ping umbrella, and shook himself out of his rubber 
coat. ‘‘ You ’d better believe I ’m wet. Lou went 
off before it rained, and I had to pack her rubbers 
and umbrella over to her. It ’s no joke to walk a 
mile in such a pour.” 

“Where is she?” asked Allie, while she hospi- 
tably drew up a chair for her guest. 


i86 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ Over the creek with that boy of hers. She 
puts in ever so much time there, since he ’s better. 
She says he ’s crazy to read and be read to, so she 
goes over ’most every day,” responded Ned, as he 
wriggled away from the too exuberant caresses of 
Ben. 

“ How is he getting on? ” inquired Marjorie. 

“All right, as much as he can. Lou says he’s 
bright and knows a good deal.” 

“ How kind she ’s been to him ! ” said Allie 
thoughtfully. “ And Charlie, too. He buys lots 
of things for him, and sends them over by Dr. 
Brownlee.” 

“ Good for Charlie Mac ! That ’s just like him,” 
said Ned enthusiastically. “Where is he, any- 
how?” 

“We supposed he was over at your house with 
Grant,” answered Howard from the corner where 
he sat, industriously whittling at a set of small 
wooden pegs. 

“ It must be nice to have money, and do all sorts 
of things like that,” sighed Marjorie. “I can’t 
afford to buy books and fruit, for I ’m always short 
on my allowance ; and mamma won’t let me give 
up my lessons, even for one day, so I can’t do 
what Miss Lou does,” 


SWEET charity’s SAKE.” I 8/ 

“Poor Marj ! It’s a hard case; for time’s 
money, and you haven’t any of either,” remarked 
Howard. 

“Wait a minute ! ” she answered, starting from 
her chair, and pacing up and down the room, as 
was her habit when much absorbed. “ I ’m getting 
hold of an idea.” 

“ Hold on, then, and don’t let it go,” advised 
Ned, dodging the sofa pillow that Marjorie hurled 
at him. 

“ Listen ! ” she commanded imperatively. “ It’s 
really and truly a good plan. You know we 
haven’t any too much money, for we all of us 
spend our allowances faster than we get them ; but 
let ’s begin to save, and put it all together, till by 
and by we can send him something.” 

“ Good, Marjorie ! What a splendid idea ! ” 
exclaimed Allie, fired with zeal at the thought. 

, “ But, I say,” remonstrated Howard ; “ how long 

are you going to keep up the scheme ? I can save 
like a house afire, for a little while ; but Christmas 
is coming, and I ’ve promised to give Allie a rub- 
ber doll, and charity begins at home, you know. 
I ’m willing to help on your lad for a month or so ; 
but let ’s put a limit to it.” 

“ I didn’t think you ’d be so stingy, Howard,” 


i88 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


said Marjorie, turning on him a gaze of virtuous 
sorrow. 

“ T isn’t stingy,” retorted Howard; “ it’s com- 
mon sense. I ’m as sorry for him as you are ; but I 
think we ’d better go easy on it a little, and see 
how we come out.” 

“ Let ’s try it for a month,” interposed Allie 
hastily, for she saw that Marjorie was growing 
indignant. “ If we save all we* can, we shall have a 
good deal by that time. What shall we get him ? ” 
A whole set of Henty’s books,” suggested Ned 
promptly. 

“No; I think he’d like a tool-chest better,” 
said Howard, eyeing with disfavor the shabby 
knife in his hand. 

“ What an idea, Howard ! He couldn’t use a 
tool-chest, even if he had one,” said Allie, laughing 
disrespectfully at her brother’s suggestion. “ We 
want to get him something he could have the good 
of all the time. What do you say, Marjorie?” 

“ Miss Lou said he used to sing a good deal,” 
observed Marjorie, her virtue coming to the sur- 
face once more. “ Why wouldn’t it be nice to get 
him one of the new hymnals ; a great big one, 
with all the tunes in it? I think he’d find it very 
comforting.” 


‘‘SWEET charity’s SAKE. 


189 

A pause followed her words; then the boys 
burst into a shout of laughter. Marjorie looked a 
little aggrieved. 

“ I don’t . see what you ’re laughing at,” she said, 
with a suspicion of a pout. “ Hymns are a great 
deal better for such people than your crazy old 
books and tool-chests.” 

“ Don’t be a jay, Marjorie,” said Ned bluntly. 
“ He isn’t any more sicch people than we are ; and 
because a fellow is down on his luck he doesn’t 
want everybody shying cofhns at him. But here 
comes Grant ; let ’s see what he says. Then we can 
save up for a month, and see how much we get ; 
after that, we can tell better what to do with it.” 

For the next four weeks a spirit of miserliness 
seemed to have broken out among the young 
people, who scrimped and saved and denied them- 
selves for days, only to succumb to the tempta- 
tions of “ just one little bit of a treat,” which swept 
away most of their savings again, and left them no 
better off than before. The day after they had 
taken their great resolution, they went down town 
in a body, and invested most of the funds at the 
disposal of the syndicate in an elaborate toy bank, 
in the form of a dog who stolidly swallowed their 
stray bits of silver and nickel into an iron strong- 


190 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


box below, which nothing but a powerful hammer 
could ever succeed in opening. As soon as this 
purchase was made, and a nest-egg solemnly 
deposited in its miniature vault, their zeal cooled, 
and the dog was left in Allie’s keeping for a week 
of slow starvation. It is true that Charlie often 
begged to be allowed to contribute from his own 
more abundant resources ; but it had been agreed 
that he could only add one fifth to the combined 
offerings of the others; so, though the end of the 
month was fast approaching, the bank was still 
nearly as light as when it came from the store, and 
only responded with a faint rattle to Allie’s fre- 
quent shakings. 

Matters were in this condition, one day, when 
Grant dropped in for one of his frequent short calls 
on Marjorie. 

“Mustn’t stay,” he answered briefly; “ I ’m on 
my way down to get my hair cut. I ’m going to 
try Charlie Mac’s barber; he gets a better shape 
on your hair, somehow.” 

“ Extravagant boy ! ” said Marjorie reproach- 
fully. “ You ’ll have to pay him ever so much. 
How much does he charge, anyway? ” 

“ Six bits,” answered Grant, as he picked up his 
hat, and took hold of the door knob. 


‘'SWEET charity’s SAKE. 


“That’s perfectly shameful,” said Marjorie. 
“ It ’s ever so much more than you generally pay. 
I ’ll tell you what : I’ 11 do it for you for ten cents, 
and you can have all the rest to put in our bank. 
You haven’t begun to give your share.” 

“ I can’t help it; a fellow can’t live on nothing,” 
said Grant defensively. “ I ’ve only had two sodas 
and a new bat this \yeek. Besides, I want my hair 
cut like Charlie’s.” 

“ I should think you would be ashamed to spend 
so much on just your looks, when you think of that 
poor, exploded boy,” said Marjorie in a sanctimo- 
nious tone. “ And then,” she added persuasively, 
“ if you let me cut it for ten cents, you can spend 
some for a treat and put the rest in the bank.” 

Grant wavered. The prospect of having an un- 
expected treat, and at the same time of putting a 
little money into their hoard was an attractive one ; 
but, after all, his boyish soul was filled with a vain 
desire to see how his yellow hair would look, after 
being cut by Charlie’s man Moreover, Charlie’s 
barber was an expensive luxury, and Grant had 
experienced some difficulty in coaxing the neces- 
sary funds out of Mrs. Pennypoker, so he had a 
little natural misgiving as to her opinion of his 
putting the money to other uses. 


192 


IN BLUE CREEK CiVNON. 


“ You could get a soda, and ever so many pine 
nuts,” went on the tempter, touching her victim’s 
weakest spot. 

Grant yielded a little. 

“Have you ever cut anybody’s hair?” he de- 
manded. 

“No; but I can, well enough. “It’s just as 
easy.” And Marjorie gave her hand an impres- 
sive sweep through the air. “I know just exactly 
how,” she added. 

“You ’re sure you can make it look all right? ” 
asked Grant again, while there floated through his 
mind a blissful vision of himself, tranquilly eating 
pine nuts, and of the others, standing grouped 
about him, praising his generosity. 

“ Course I can; why not? ” said Marjorie scorn- 
fully. “ Don’t you s’pose I know how a boy’s hair 
ought to look? ” 

“ And you ’ll do it for ten cents? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“All right; sail in ! ” And Grant dropped into 
a chair and closed his eyes, as if he were about to 
be decapitated. 

“ You needn’t think I ’m going to do it here in 
the parlor,” said Marjorie. “It’s going to make 
an awful muss ; you must come out of doors.” 


“SWEET charity’s SAKE.” I93 

You needn’t think I ’m going to freeze,” re- 
torted the victim, opening his eyes to glare at her 
belligerently. “ If I give you the job, and pay 
you all that for it, I ’m going to have something to 
say about the way it’s done. You can spread 
down a paper, if you ’re afraid.” 

“ Well,” said Marjorie reluctantly; “ I don’t know 
but ’t would be cold on the piazza. Wait a min- 
ute, and I ’ll be ready.” 

Her preparations were quickly made. A layer 
of newspapers was spread over the carpet, and a 
chair set out in the middle of the room. Then she 
tied a blue checked apron around Grant’s neck, 
and announced herself as in readiness. 

“ Sit down there,” she commanded, as she dived 
into a box of scrap-book materials for a pair of 
paste-stained scissors ; and don’t you dare to 
wiggle, for I shall cut you if you do.” And she 
gave the scissors an expressive clash above his 
head. 

“ All right,” said Grant again, as he once more 
closed his eyes and assumed a look of abject 
misery. 

Then silence fell upon the room, and for a long 
half hour the stillness was only broken by the 
clatter of the loose-jointed scissors, and an occa- 


194 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


sional moan from Grant, when the blunt points 
collided with his skin with more than ordinary 
vigor. With one hand clutching the boy’s yellow 
head for support, Marjorie stood over him, clipping 
and trimming, then stopping to contemplate the 
result of her labors, before attacking a new spot. 
She had started out upon her undertaking valiantly 
enough ; but a dozen reckless slashes had begun to 
awaken some slight misgivings in her mind, and she 
proceeded more slowly and with frequent pauses, 
while an anxious pucker about her brows showed 
that she was not entirely satisfied with her work. 
Worst of all. Grant was beginning to grow restive. 

‘^’Most through?” he had inquired some time 
before. 

But Marjorie had consoled him with assurances 
of his speedy release ; and he had resigned himself 
to the inevitable and sat quiet for ten minutes 
longer. Then he burst out again. 

Say, Marjorie,” he protested; you scratch 
like fun ; and you Ve been long enough about it 
to cut a dozen hairs. Hurry up, there ! ” 

‘‘ I ’m almost through,” she answered hastily. 
‘‘ Your hair ’s so tough it takes me longer than I 
thought ’t would.” 

How ’s it going to look? ” 


“SWEET charity’s SAKE.' 


195 


“ Lovely ! ” responded Marjorie, with a fervor 
which she was far from feeling, while she made a 
few hurried clips at a long lock which, in some 
way, had escaped her vigilance. “ There ! ” she 
added. “That’s all. You can get up.” 

Grant rose and shook himself ; then, with the 
apron still hanging about his neck, he marched to 
the nearest mirror and gazed at the reflection of 
his shorn head. It was a strange picture that met 
his eyes. His head was encircled with narrow 
furrows, where the scissors had done their work so 
well that not a spear of hair rose above the bare 
skin. These ridges were intermingled with patches 
of stubble of varying length ; while, here and 
there, a long lock had escaped entirely, and, in the 
lack of its former support, now stood out from his 
scalp at an aggressive angle, like the fur on the 
back of an angry cat. The whole effect resembled 
nothing so much as a piece of half-cleared wood- 
land, where the workman’s axe had here levelled 
everything to the ground, here left a clump or two 
of bushes, and here spared an occasional giant tree 
which towered far above its fallen comrades, in the 
conscious pride of its unimpaired strength. 

The result was novel ; but Grant appeared to fail 
to appreciate it, for when he turned back to face 


196 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Marjorie again his brown eyes were blazing, and 
he was well-nigh speechless with indignation. 

“ You beastly fraud ! ” he shouted, while he 
rubbed his hand over his denuded pate, with a 
tenderly caressing motion, as if to console it for its 
appearance. 

What’s the matter?” asked Marjorie faintly. 

Matter ! ” stormed Grant. ‘‘ Look at my 
head and see for yourself. You said you could 
cut my hair all right, and you’ve just spoiled it all. 
I won’t pay you one cent. It ’ll take weeks and 
weeks for it to get back again.” 

“It looks all right,” said Marjorie stubbornly; 
“ and you ’ve got to pay me. You said you would, 
and you never lie. The time I spent on it is worth 
more than ten cents, anyway.” 

“ I sha’n’t pay you,” retorted Grant doggedly. 

“ You shall ! ” 

“ I won’t ! ” 

“ Then I ’ll tell Allie and Charlie, and all the rest, 
that you ’re stingy and a great big cheat.” 

“ Tell away if you ’re mean enough.” 

“And I’ll tell Mrs. Pennypoker; and she’ll 
send you to bed without your supper, for stealing 
her money.” 

“ Didn’t steal it ! ” 


‘‘SWEET charity’s SAKE.” 197 

“ Yes, you did, too ! She gave it to you for 
something, and you were going to spend part of 
it for soda ; that ’s stealing,” 

“ T isn’t, either ! ” 

“ ’T .3, too, and you know it ! And if you aren’t 
ashamed of it why don’t you want me to tell 
her?” 

Grant saw that his enemy had outflanked him, 
and that his only possible course was to make the 
best terms he could. 

“ Now, see here,” he said more quietly, as he 
pointed to his head again ; “ this isn’t worth any- 
thing; but you ’ve cornered me, so I can’t get out. 
But, if I pay you, you must give me back a nickel, 
to pay for the hole you snicked out of my ear.” 

Marjorie’s face fell. She had been hoping that 
he would not notice the little red spot on the tip of 
his left ear. 

“ And then,” continued Grant remorselessly ; 
“you can just put on your hat, and come along 
with me to Allie’s. We ’ll each put a nickel in the 
bank, and then we ’ll be square. But you ’d better 
believe I ’ll tell the boys who did this, so they won’t 
get taken in as I did.” 

A week later, Charlie and Allie opened the bank 
and counted the funds. Only sixty-five cents had 


198 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

accumulated there; Allie’s face fell as she sur- 
veyed the meagre hoard. 

“ Hush up ! ” commanded Charlie, as he dropped 
something yellow and shining into her lap. “ I 
was in a bad fix last summer, and I know how ’t is, 
so I ought to help on more than the rest of you. 
You just keep still and don’t say anything to the 
others.” 

And no one else ever knew the full history of the 
magazine that put in its appearance at the begin- 
ning of the following month, with a greeting to the 
stranger boy from his friends across the creek. 


CHAPTER XII. 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 

There was mutiny in the Burnam household. 
It had btoken out the night before, when Vic was 
saying his prayers in the presence of Mrs. Penny- 
poker, who was supposed to be temporarily filling 
his mother’s place. At the petition for daily bread, 
Vic had stopped short. 

“ Go on,” said Mrs. Pcniiypoker, in slow, meas- 
ured tones. 

Victor opened his eyes and glared at her with 
undevout opposition. 

Don’t want bread,” he said firmly. “ Vic 
likes biskies.” 

It means the same thing, Victor,” answered 
Mrs. Pennypoker, in her hard voice. Now be 
a good little boy and finish your prayer, or God 
won’t listen to you, another time, when you are 
asking him for something.” 

It was then that Vic had delivered himself of 
his first baby heresy, which had been slowly work- 
ing in his brain while Mrs. Pennypoker had been 
199 


200 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


urging him through his devotions, in a manner so 
unlike the tender gentleness of his pretty mamma. 

‘‘ I don’t like your God,” he said deliberately, 
as he gazed up into the cold, dark eyes above 
him; “ I don’t like your God a bit; I’m tired of 
him. I want my mamma’s.” And, rising from 
his knees, he dived into bed, where he burst out 
sobbing for mamma ; nor would he be* quieted 
until Mrs. Pennypoker had left the room, and sent 
Allie up to comfort her baby brother with re- 
peated assurances that mamma would come by 
and by. 

Two days before this, Mrs. Burnam had received 
a note from her husband, saying that a fall from his 
horse had bruised and strained him a little, and that 
it seemed best for him to stay a few days at a small 
country hotel, not far from his camp. In reality, it 
was only a slight affair; but Mrs. Burnam had felt 
so uneasy that she had resolved to go to him, to 
be at hand in case he might need any of the little 
attentions which it would be hard for him to get, 
in the small town where he was left. Since Victor 
would be only an additional care, she had decided 
not to take him with her; but, remembering the 
emergency which had arisen during her* last ab- 
• sence, she had begged Mrs. Pennypoker to take 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


201 


charge of the household for the time that she was 
away from home. 

This arrangement had not met with the entire 
approval of the young people, it must be con- 
fessed ; for Howard and Allie had hoped to be 
allowed to pose as heads of the house, while Vic- 
tor had lifted up his voice in vigorous protest 
against the intruder. However, until Victor’s 
rebellion, the second night, there had been no 
open outbreak, although there was an undercur- 
rent of antagonism between Mrs. Pennypoker and 
the children, which threatened an explosion at any 
moment. It was a new experience for Howard 
and Allie to have their fun and laughter re- 
pressed, and they were far from being ready to 
submit to it with a good grace ; while Janey had 
promptly ranged herself upon their side, and 
manifested a monkey-like ingenuity in planning 
the pranks which were making Mrs. Pennypoker’s 
frown grow deeper at every moment. 

‘^Just look at Janey! ” Howard had whispered 
to his sister, as the maid came in at dinner-time, 
with the strings of her dainty white cap tied under 
her chin, and the point standing up from her fore- 
head like an old woman’s poke bonnet. 

Mrs. Pennypoker caught the whisper. Putting 


202 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


on her glasses, she turned to glare at Janey, who 
received her stare with an unmoved counte- 
nance. 

*‘Jane,” she said, with crushing dignity; 

go back to the kitchen, and arrange your cap 
properly.” 

And Janey went, but it was not until she had 
given the two boys a look which upset their 
gravity and forced them to retire behind their 
napkins. She was gone for some moments, and 
when she reappeared her cap was drawn far down 
over her face, and she came tiptoeing in with 
short, mincing steps, to go through her serving 
with an exaggerated elegance, bowing and smirk- 
ing and flourishing her tray, with all the airs and 
graces at her command. However, there was 
nothing to be done about it, and Mrs. Penny- 
poker was forced to be content with ignoring her 
for the present, while she frowned down any dem- 
onstrations of amusement on the part of the chil- 
dren. The rest of the meal was hurried through in 
silence, and as soon as it was over the young peo- 
ple shut themselves up in Allie’s room, to vent 
their indignation by talking over the events of the 
past two days. 

*‘You don’t catch anybody getting in ahead of 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 203 

Janey, though,” said Howard with a chuckle. 
‘‘ She 's a match for even Mrs. Pennypoker.” 

“ I ’m ’most afraid she ’ll get mad and go off,” 
said Allie anxiously. “ Mrs. Pennypoker has just 
been nagging at her all day long, and Janey won’t 
put up with it. She isn’t used to it, as Wang 
Kum is.” 

Even Wang Kum kicked, the other day,” said 
Charlie, sitting down on the footboard of the bed,’ 
and swinging his heels while he talked. Grant 
told me about it. Wang made a mistake and 
threw away all her soup she ’d made, just before 
dinner ; and when she scolded him for it, he said 
he ‘ t’ought ’twas dish-water.’ She gave him fits, 
scolded like everything, till all at once he drew 
himself up and said : ‘ Old lady scold heap 

much ; Wang no be bossed by hens.’ And he 
turned and walked off, and left her standing there, 
with her mouth wide open.” 

‘‘ Good enough for her ! ” applauded Howard. 
“I only hope Janey ’ll serve her the same way.” 

“ I don’t believe I do,” said Allie thoughtfully. 
“ She ’s here, and we ’ll have to make the best of 
her. But don’t you pity Ned and Grant, to have 
to stand her all the time? ” 

The predicted explosion was not slow m coming. 


204 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Charlie had come in after his lessons, the next 
morning, clasping a huge watermelon in his arms, 
and, without a word to Mrs. Pennypoker, he had 
carried it through to the kitchen. 

“ Here, Janey,” he called ; I ’m awfully hungry, 
and if you ’ll cut this up for us to eat now, before 
lunch, I ’ll give you a quarter of it. You ’d better 
do it, for it ’s the last one you ’ll get this year.” 

With the zeal of her melondoving race, Janey’s 
eyes glistened, as she received the treasure. 

“Dat’s a gay one. Mars’ Charlie !” she ex- 
claimed, as she snapped her fingers against its 
green rind, and listened delightedly to the clear, 
crisp sound. “ Janey ’ll cut it right up for you, 
befo’ she sets de table or anything. You all likes 
melons so well, you ought to see ’em we has down 
Souf. Reckon you’d jus’ about bu’st you’selves, 
eatin’ ’em.” 

She gave the melon one more ecstatic embrace, 
and dandled it fondly in her arms for a moment ; 
then she laid it carefully down on the table, while 
she went for a knife. 

“ ‘ Wa-a-atermelon ! 

Green rind, red meat; 

All juicy, so sweet. 

Dem dat has money mus’ come up an’ buy; 

And dem dat hasn’t mus’ stan’ back an’ cry 
Wa-a-a-atermelon ! ’ ” 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


205 


She crooned to herself, as she returned with the 
knife in her hand, and stuck it in, clear to the heart 
of the fruit before her. 

What ’s that, Janey?” asked Allie, who had 
followed Charlie out into the kitchen. 

‘^Dat? Dat’s a song I done heard an ol’ man 
singin’, one day. He had some melons to sell, out 
on de corner by my mudder’s house, an’ he kep’ 
a singin’ it ober an’ ober. Ah, dat’s a fine one !” 
she added contentedly, as the rich red heart of the 
melon appeared. She paused for a moment, then 
she cocked her head on one side, as she gazed 
rapturously at the great piece which Charlie offered 
her. You all know how me an’ my brudder use’ 
to eat our melons, when mammy wan’ roun’ to 
smack us? ” she inquired suddenly. 

‘‘ How’d you do it? ” asked Charlie, laughing. 

** Dis way. See? ” And clutching the piece in 
both hands, she buried her face in it, and began to 
devour it, much as a squirrel gnaws the meat out 
of a walnut. 

So absorbed was she in her enjoyment of her 
feast, that she did not hear the door open and 
Mrs. Pennypoker come into the kitchen. 

Jane ! ” said the strong voice. 

Janey started at the sound, and choked on a seed. 


2o6 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ Yes, mis’,” she responded as soon as she could 
speak, while she raised her head from the rind. 

“What are you doing?” demanded Mrs. Penny- 
poker sternly. 

Her manner was not encouraging. There was 
a defiant flash in Janey’s eyes, as she said sullenly, — 

“ or mis’ done got eyes. What she s’pose I ’s 
doin’?” 

“ But I told you to get the lunch.” 

“ I was goin’ to, in a minute; but Mars’ Charlie 
done wanted me to cut his melon, an’ I thought 
’t wouldn’t make no difference.” 

“ You are not here to think ; you are here to do 
the work,” said Mrs. Pennypoker magisterially. 
“ If I tell you to do something, you must do it.” 

At the last words, Janey drew herself up to her 
full height and glared at Mrs. Pennypoker. Some- 
thing in the unconscious dignity of her figure, as 
she stood there, seemed to dwarf her temporary 
mistress into insignificance. 

“ You cyarn’ say mus’ to me,” she said in a slow, 
repressed tone. “ Dese ain’ no slave days, an ol’ 
mis’ cyarn’ make ’em so. I ain’ no heathen an’ I 
ain’ no slave. My mammy bought herself an’ her 
husban’, an’ we ’s all freeborn.” 

She had moved forward a step or two, and thrown 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


207 


out her hand, while her eyes gleamed with an 
angry luster. Suddenly she controlled herself. 

I sha’n’ say no mo’,” she went on slowly ; 
“ ’cause I might forget myself an’ be sassy, an’ I 
don’ wan’ to do dat. But ol’ mis’ better not inter- 
fere with me, an’ say mus’, or I ’ll pack my trunk 
an’ not come back till Mrs. Burnam comes home. 
She buys my time, an’ while I ’m yere I belongs 
to her ; but she don’ bully me. She a lady like 
what we use’ ter have down Souf, befo’ de war ; not 
like you Yankees.” 

Into her final sentence Janey had compressed 
all the scorn of which she was capable. For a 
moment longer, she stood facing Mrs. Pennypoker ; 
then, turning on her heel, she left the room. 

Mrs. Pennypoker was the first one of the group 
to come to her senses. 

‘‘ That girl shall leave the house to-night,” she 
exclaimed angrily. I won’t have her here an 
hour longer.” 

“ You aren’t going to send Janey off! ” demanded 
Allie indignantly. 

I certainly shall not keep her after what has 
occurred,” returned Mrs. Pennypoker coldly. 

“But you can’t; she isn’t yours. She’s mam- 
ma’s,” remonstrated Allie. 


208 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


** I am taking your mother’s place for the pres- 
ent, and I shall not retain a servant who is so 
disrespectful,” answered Mrs. Pennypoker again. 

I am surprised at you, Alice, for interfering in a 
matter which does not belong to you.” 

“ It does belong to me, too,” returned Allie 
mutinously. “ Janey ’s a splendid girl, and mam- 
ma just thinks everything of her. She ’ll never 
forgive you, if you send her off; and what’s more, 
I hope she won’t ; so there, now ! ” 

“ Alice ! ” And there was no mistaking the 
meaning of Mrs. Pennypoker’s tone. 

I don’t care if ’t is ! ” exclaimed Allie, with 
illogical recklessness. “ You ’re just too mean, 
and I don’t blame Janey one bit.” 

“ Alice ! ” repeated Mrs. Pennypoker. You 
may go to your room, and not leave it again to- 
day. I shall tell your mother exactly what has 
occurred.” 

''Tell away!” returned Allie. “I just hope 
you will. I ’m not afraid of mamma ; she ’s not so 
cross as some people.” And forcing back the 
angry tears, she walked away in the direction of 
her room, leaving the half-frightened boys to look 
after her in silent sympathy. 

Once in the safe retreat of her own room, Allie’s 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


209 


courage broke down, and, throwing herself on her 
bed, she began to cry convulsively, as she realized 
all the injustice of her punishment, all the petty 
tyranny she had borne for the past three days. 
For a few moments the sobs came faster and 
faster. Then, when her first excitement was over, 
she began to think. Mrs. Pennypoker ought to 
be ashamed of herself for abusing them so ; and 
how angry her mother would be when she knew it ! 
Perhaps the long day of loneliness and fasting 
would make her ill ; then Mrs. Pennypoker would 
be sorry. It might be that she would never get 
over it, but would go in-to a decline. How they 
would all mourn for her ! She went on to plan the 
minutest details of her funeral with all the gloomy 
cheerfulness of an undertaker ; but, when she came 
to fancy the loneliness of Howard and Charlie, the 
distressing picture overcame her, and she began to 
sob once more. However, the tears would not 
flow quite so readily this time ; and, under all her 
pity for herself, she began to wonder uneasily if, 
perhaps, she had not been a little hasty and rude 
to Mrs. Pennypoker. It might be that her mother 
would not altogether sympathize with her, after all. 
This was not an agreeable thought, and, to silence 
it, she sprang up and crossed the room to put 


210 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


some cold water on her flushed and swollen face. 
As she did so, she saw a slip of paper tucked 
under the door, and she seized it eagerly, for it 
was addressed to her, and in Charlie’s writing. 

** Good for you, Allie ! ” it said. “ Keep up 
your pluck till afternoon, and we ’ll have some fun 
then.” 

There was something encouraging in the boyish 
sympathy; and, as Allie stood caressingly rubbing 
the note against her cheek, she found herself 
wondering what he could mean by his reference to 
possible fun in the afternoon. The outlook for the 
rest of the day did not seem to promise much in 
the way of enjoyment ; but Allie knew her cousin’s 
ingenuity well enough to rely upon his word, so 
she could resign herself to wait. 

The next hour was a long one to the young 
prisoner, who wandered restlessly about the room, 
or tried to amuse herself with a book, although all 
the time she was inwardly dwelling upon the 
ignominy of her punishment, and dreading lest it 
should reach the ears of Marjorie and the Everetts, 
or, worst of all, of Dr. Brownlee, whose good opin- 
ion she especially desired to retain. At the end 
of the hour, Mrs. Pennypoker herself appeared on 
the threshold, with a plate of crackers in one hand 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


2II 


and a glass of water in the other. Without a word 
to the captive, she set the meagre lunch upon the 
table, and withdrew, locking the door behind her. 
At this last insult, Allie’s temper flashed up again. 
It was enough to punish her so severely; but it 
was not necessary to distrust her honor, and lock 
her up like a criminal. At least, she would not 
touch the rations her jailer had left. Deliberately 
she picked them up, and, going to the window, 
she threw out the water with a splash, and tossed 
the crackers after it. She hesitated for a moment, 
and then hurled the plate and glass after them, 
with an angry determination which sent them 
crashing far across the uneven ground beneath her 
window. That done, she sat down to read with a 
quieted conscience. 

Through the closed door she could hear Mrs. 
Pennypoker moving to and fro about the house, 
and now and again Vic’s baby voice fell upon her 
ears ; but, for the most part, the house was very 
still. At length she heard some one calling her 
name in a low voice. Throwing aside her book, 
she went to the door and listened intently, till she 
heard the call repeated. This time it was evident 
that the sound came from outside the window. 
She hurried across the room and threw it wide 


212 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


open. In a moment more Charlie had scrambled 
into the room. 

Hullo ! ” he remarked, as he tossed his cap 
into a chair. “You’re awfully warm in here, so 
let ’s leave the window open. We ’re safe enough, 
for Mrs. Pennypoker can’t hear us. Besides, Dr. 
Hornblower is in the parlor talking to her, and 
she won’t know anything more to-day.” 

“ But what are you going to do ? ” asked Allie, 
watching him in amazement, as he seated himself at 
his ease and unbuttoned his light gray coat, to ex- 
pose to view a great round pared concealed inside it. 

“ I ’m going to spend the afternoon with you, of 
course,” returned Charlie composedly. “ You 
didn’t s’pose I was going back on you after the way 
you stuck to me last June? Well, not much ! We 
could climb out of the window and go off, but 
she ’d be sure to find it out, and that would only 
make it worse, so we ’ll stay here and have a lark.” 

“You’re a dear old boy, Charlie ! ” And Allie 
embraced him tempestuously. “ But how did you 
ever stand it to be shut in here so long, last sum- 
mer? This last hour has ’most killed me.” 

“ I wasn’t all alone, you know, much of the 
time. But, I say, come off! ” he remonstrated, as 
Allie renewed her demonstrations of affection. 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


213 


** You needn’t stand my hair on end just because 
I Ve come. Here’s a pie I sniped off the pantry 
shelf, for I thought most likely you ’d be hungry.” 

“ I ’m nearly starved,” answered Allie gratefully. 
“ Mrs. Pennypoker did bring me some crackers 
this noon, though.” 

‘‘ Crackers aren’t much good, and those are all 
gone by this time, aren’t they?” inquired Charlie 
scornfully. 

‘‘Yes, every, one; gone out of the window,” 
returned her cousin disdainfully. “ Charlie Mac- 
Gregor, I ’d have starved to death before I touched 
one of her old crackers ! ” 

“ That ’s the way to talk,” said Charlie approv- 
ingly. “ She ’s a Tartar and a Turk, Allie, and I ’d 
like to tell her what I think of her — if I only 
dared. But, if I did, she ’d just lock us up in dif- 
ferent rooms; and it’s more fun to be together.” 

“I did tell her — Oh, dear, I wish mamma 
would come back,” sighed Allie. “ How shall we 
ever stand it three more days, Charlie?” 

“ Grin and bear it, mostly,” returned Charlie, 
philosophically. “Janey’s packed up her clothes 
and gone off, and she says she won’t step into this 
house again till auntie gets back. I don’t blame 
her; but Mrs. Pennypoker ’ll have to turn cook. 


214 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


or else send over for Wang. But go on and eat 
your pie, Allie, and you ’ll feel better. She ’s a 
Turk, I tell you ; but I ’ll see that auntie knows all 
about it, and I know she won’t think you ’re a bit 
to blame.” 

“But, Charlie, you aren’t going to stay here all 
this everlasting afternoon,” remonstrated Allie, as 
her woe yielded to the combined influences of her 
cousin’s consolation and his pie. “ It isn’t fair at 
all, when you might be off with the boys having a 
good time.” 

“ Well, it strikes me this ought to be my in- 
nings,” answered Charlie quietly, while he settled 
his glasses on his nose and then took up the book 
which his cousin had just tossed aside. “ How 
many days and weeks, I ’d like to know, did you 
stay in here with me, when ’t was hot and dark and 
Stuffy here ! It ’s only fair that you should let me 
take my turn now. You needn’t talk to me, if you 
don’t want to; but I shall, stay here as long as I 
choose, and you can’t put me out, so you may as 
well make up your mind to it.” 

Two hours later, as Mrs. Pennypoker’s step was 
heard in the hall outside, Charlie quietly let him- 
self drop from the window-sill. Then he turned 
back to whisper, — 


HOME WITHOUT A MOTHER. 


215 


“Just don’t you say anything about it, Allie ; 
we aren’t even now, and we sha’n’t be, very soon. 
Besides, it ’s worth all the rest to have the fun of 
getting the inside track of her. Good-by till break- 
fast-time ! ” And he vanished around the corner 
of the house. 


CHAPTER XIIL 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 

Late October had come, and already the snow- 
line was creeping down the mountain sides towards 
the little town in the canon. Occasional flurries of 
snow filled the air, too, and the nights were sharp 
and frosty ; but in the middle of the day it was 
still warm and bright, with a clearer, more bracing 
air than the summer had given, an air which 
tempted the young people out for long walks and 
rides up and down the valley. Louise often joined 
them in these expeditions, and it was no uncommon 
thing for them to be overtaken by Dr. Brownlee, 
who generally begged permission to spend a leisure 
hour with their party. This addition to their num- 
ber was always hailed with delight by the children ; 
for while the doctor usually took his place by the 
side of Louise, he was never too much absorbed 
in his companion to join the boys in their fun, or 
to treat Allie and Marjorie with the gentle chiv- 
alry which made them feel so grown up and ele- 
gant, a chivalry that is so rarely shown to children, 
216 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


217 


yet never fails to afford them a delight even more 
keen than it gives to their older sisters. 

Allie and the boys were coming up through the 
town, one Saturday morning, after a brisk walk in 
the clear, crisp air. They had passed “ tin-can- 
dom, ” as Howard called the open field just below 
the town, which was thickly strewn with these in- 
digestible relics of past feasts, and were just out- 
side the fence separating Chinatown from its 
American surroundings, when Allie stopped ab- 
ruptly. 

“ Look there ! ” she exclaimed, pointing over the 
low wall into the enclosure, where the tiny log 
cabins were scattered irregularly about the ground, 
and where long-tailed, moon-faced Chinamen were 
scuffling aimlessly about. “ Isn’t that Vic ? ” 

Where ? ” asked Howard, while Charlie added, — 
“ What an idea, Allie ! Of course he wouldn’t 
be in there.” 

Yes ; but ’t is Vic. I know that long red coat 
of his,” responded Allie hastily. “ Right in there, 
between those two log houses — see ? ” 

True enough, there in the forbidden ground of 
Chinatown stood Vic, his red coat and fez making 
him a striking little figure against the dull back- 
ground of a rough log house, as he gazed intently 


2I8 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


up into the yellow face of an elderly Chinaman, who 
was carrying two buckets of water hanging from a 
yoke across his shoulders. 

“ ’T is, after all ; but what can he be doing 
there?” said Charlie, staring in astonishment at 
the scene before him. 

“ Never mind what he ’s doing,” said Allie. 
“ He ran away, I suppose ; but we must get him 
home. I ’ll wait here, while you go and bring him 
out. Mamma ’d be dreadfully frightened if she 
knew where he was. Now hurry ! ” 

The boys dashed away, and soon came back to 
her side, with the small wanderer between them. 
Vic was in a state of open rebellion over this 
abrupt ending to his explorations, and lifted up his 
voice in lamentation, as Allie firmly turned his 
steps towards home. 

“ Everybody went off,” he explained in an 
aggrieved tone. “ You went, and Ben went, and 
papa went, and ven I went, too. And I will go 
back to see the Moolly-cow-man.” 

But his sister refused to be persuaded, and Vic’s 
voice died away to a whisper, as he continued to 
babble to himself of the wonders he had seen in 
his walk. 

‘‘ There ’s one thing, Allie, that I don’t get used 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


219 


to, in this country,” remarked Charlie, as they were 
crossing the main street ; “ and that ’s the signs. 
See there ! ” And he pointed to a long, white 
building, one door of which was surmounted with 
the sign, in great gilt letters : Embalming Em- 
porium ; while a board, swinging out from its next- 
door neighbor, bore the legend. Shoos i Soled Ehere. 
“But, I say,” he added, as they came in sight of 
the house ; “ what do you suppose Ned and 

Grant want? They’ve camped out on our piazza, 
as if they meant to stay there. Hi — i!” he 
shouted, waving his cap above his head. 

“ Hurry u — up ! ” responded Ned, returning 
the salute with interest. 

“ Thought you ’d never come,” added Grant, as 
they drew nearer. 

“ What do you want? ” asked Howard. 

But before Ned had time to reply, Allie inter- 
posed, — 

“Just wait one minute, do, till I take Vic into 
the house to mamma. Is she very much worried 
about him?” 

“ Don’t believe she is,” answered Ned. “ She 
didn ’t say anything about it. Probably she 
hasn’t missed him at all. Now,” he resumed, as 
Allie came back to the piazza ; “ I Ve been wait- 


220 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


ing here for thirty-nine ages and a quarter ; and I 
was just ready to give up and go home again. 
Papa sent me up to tell you that he ’s going to 
take a crowd down the Blue Creek, this afternoon, 
and to ask you if you don’t want to come along 
with us.” 

I shouldn’t think he ’d dare take Charlie 
again, for fear he ’d hoodoo it all,” said Grant 
disrespectfully. 

“ Who ’s going? ” asked Howard. 

“ All of us ; Cousin Euphemia and all ; and Dr. 
Brownlee and Marjorie and you. We ’re going to 
have an early dinner, and start at one, so we can 
go through the smelter, after we come up. Cousin 
Euphemia is making her will now, most likely ; she 
didn’t want to go, but papa talked her into it. 
You ’ll be on hand ; won’t you ? ” 

We ’ll be thar,” responded Howard, with a 
twang that might have done credit to Janey. 

“ Isn’t it fun to go ! ” said Allie delightedly. 
** I ’ve always wanted to go down, and never could. 
You and I will be the green ones, Charlie ; all the 
rest have been before.” 

“The doctor and Cousin Euphemia haven’t,” 
said Ned. “ But I ’ll take care of you, Allie, and 
show you all there is to be seen. Come along. 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


221 


Grant; we must be going.” And the brothers 
departed in haste. 

Punctually at one o’clock, Charlie and his cous- 
ins were at the Everetts’, where they found that 
their party had received one unexpected addition. 
The Reverend Gabriel Hornblower had dropped in 
to dinner, and common courtesy had made it neces- 
sary for Mr. Everett to invite him to join the 
expedition. As they left the house, Louise, with 
her father and Dr. Brownlee, took the lead, while 
close in the rear walked Dr. Hornblower, edging 
forward as far as possible, in order to join in their 
conversation, with an utter disregard of Mrs. Pen- 
nypoker, who had attached herself to his side, and 
manifested every intention of maintaining her posi- 
tion. The short walk through the town was 
quickly taken ; and it was still early in the after- 
noon when they stood beside the shaft. Mr. Som- 
ers, Mr. Everett’s assistant, was waiting for them 
there ; and, a few moments later, the new cage had 
come up the shaft, and halted to receive them. 

“ But what makes them call it a cage ? ” demanded 
Allie, eyeing with disfavor the pair of heavy plat- 
forms before her I thought ’t would have open- 
work brass sides, like the elevators in Denver.” 

And hot and cold water, and gas, and all the 


222 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


other modern improvements?” inquired Ned, as 
he helped himself to a pair of candles in their iron 
sockets, and passed one of them on to Allie. 
“ Don’t be a snob, Alliej you won’t find much 
furniture down below.” 

“You take Mrs. Pennypoker and my daughter, 
with the gentlemen, on the upper deck, Somers,” 
Mr. Everett was saying; “and I’ll take these 
children in the lower, and look out for them 
there.” 

According to the usual method, the upper plat- 
form was brought to the level of the ground, to 
receive its freight, before the cage was raised the 
necessary seven feet, to allow Mr. Everett and the 
young people to step on the lower floor. Then 
they slowly sank away from the light, down, down, 
while Allie clutched Ned’s protecting hand, and 
tried in vain to enjoy her novel ride. At length 
they came to a halt at a broad, square station, and 
the two decks of the cage were quickly unloaded. 

“This is the nine-hundred level,” Mr. Everett 
told them, as they stood grouped about him. “ We 
have three more below, — they ’re one hundred feet 
apart, you know, — and we ’re still sinking the 
shaft. The cage in that next compartment is given 
up to the men who are doing the sinking.” 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


223 


“ It ’s a rich vein, then, I take it,” said Dr. Brown- 
lee. 

A fine one, better than we supposed when we 
bought it. It dips down sharply to the east, and 
we cross it at the five-hundred, so we don’t have to 
work so far in any one direction to strike it. You 
see, we run a cross-cut straight out from the shaft, 
till we hit the vein ; then we turn both ways and 
run along through it; so, at every level, our work- 
ings are like a great T, with the stem growing larger 
with every hundred feet we go down.” 

“ And this is how deep? ” asked Louise. 

“Nine hundred,’^ repeated her father, while he 
hastily snatched Marjorie out of the path of an 
ore car, which came thundering down the cross- 
cut and turned abruptly into the station. 

“ It ’s a solemn thing to feel that you are nine 
hundred feet from the light,” observed Mrs. Penny- 
poker, as she gathered her skirts more closely 
about her. 

“ Yes,” responded the Reverend Gabriel, wav- 
ing his right hand, lamp and all ; it reminds one 
of the mighty power of the earthquake, when it 
stoops to trample on a worm.” 

Then they were silent, as they followed Mr. 
Everett through the long gallery, pausing now 


224 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


and then near one of the electric lights that dotted 
the corridor, to listen to his ofif-hand explana- 
tions of the work below ground. Dr. Brownlee 
appeared to be especially interested in the sub- 
ject. 

How do you get the ore on the cage ? ” he 
asked. “ Do you run it on, car and all, or do you 
unload it? ” 

How little these Eastern folks do know ! ” re- 
marked the Reverend Gabriel, in an audible aside 
to Louise. 

“ Perhaps we should all be better off, if we 
knew more about it,” she replied, with a touch of 
coldness in her tone, as she turned her back upon 
the Reverend Gabriel, and took her place at her 
father’s side, where she met the amused glance of 
Dr. Brownlee, who had overhead both remarks. 

“ They signal the cage, and run the car on it,” 
answered Mr. Everett. We don’t let but one 
man ring for the engineer. He has to stay near 
one of the stations, where he can hear ; and when 
the miners want him, they go to the station and 
pound their signal on one of the water-pipes, for 
him to repeat. We had a green hand, though, 
that tried to improve on our plan, a few years ago. 
He attempted to catch the cage on the fly, as it 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 225 

went up past him ; and he actually aimed the car 
at it, and ran it down.” 

“ Did he hit it? ” asked Charlie. 

‘‘ Hardly,” returned Mr. Everett, laughing. 
“The cage was too quick for him, and went on 
up ; and both the car and the man fell clear to the 
bottom of the shaft.” 

“ Oh-h ! ” And Marjorie’s eyes grew round 
with horror. “ I should think ’t would have hurt 
him awfully.” 

“Well, yes, Marjorie; I should have thought it 
would,” said Howard, mimicking her tone, while 
the others joined in the laugh at her expense. 

Then they went on to the end of the cross-cut, and, 
turning at a sharp angle, they came into the drift, the 
long gallery running through the vein. For some 
distance, the drift, like the cross-cut, was lined with 
timbers, then the lining ceased, as they neared the 
end of the drift, where the miners were hard at 
.work, drilling for fresh blasts, or tearing out the 
ore loosened by the last explosion, and loading it 
into the little car which stood ready to be run 
down the track to the station. Seven feet above, 
so that the roof of the lower level formed the 
flooring of the next, was another short gallery, 
where the men were busy stoping, digging out 


226 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


the ore from the upper tier. Dingy and grimy as 
they were, it was fascinating to watch them, bur- 
rowing, like so many moles, in the depths of the 
earth. The visitors lingered to look at them until 
they were frightened away by the preparations for 
a blast ; then they slowly made their way back to 
the station, pausing a moment to watch a loaded 
car, as it rolled from the. rails to the polished steel 
flooring, and swung around the corner into posi- 
tion, to wait for the cage. Mr. Everett looked at 
his watch. 

“ I ’m sorry to hurry you,” he said ; “ but I 
think we ought to be going; don’t you, Somers? 
It’s change day; and at three the cages will be 
full.” 

“ Change day ! ” remarked Charlie to his cousin, 
in an undertone ; “ what ’s that? ” 

“ Hush ! ” she whispered. “ Don’t show Dr. 
Hornblower how little you know. Remember 
that you ’re from the East, too.” 

But Dr. Brownlee was animated by no such 
motives of prudence, and quietly asked for an 
explanation of the term. 

“ We have two sets of men,” Mr. Everett 
answered. “ The day shift goes on at seven, and 
works till half past five ; and the night one comes 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


227 


on at seven in the evening, and stays till half past 
five in the morning. Of course that ’s harder on 
one set of men than the other, so, once in two 
weeks, we have what we call change day. The 
day shift goes on at seven, and works till three ; 
then the night fellows come right on and stay till 
eleven ; and the old day shift comes back at 
eleven. By the next morning, you see, their 
places are just changed, and the night men are 
working in the daytime. Now,” he added, as he 
stepped to the shaft, to ring his own private sig- 
nal; “ we ’ll go up and take a look through the 
smelter before — Why, where are Mrs. Penny- 
poker and Dr. Hornblower? ” 

There was a startled pause. No one had seen 
the missing members of the party since they had 
left the head of the drift, although they had sup- 
posed them to be following close behinS their 
companions. Turning, they looked back up the 
cross-cut, but there was no Mrs. Pennypoker in 
sight. It seemed impossible that they could have 
lost their way, in a long, straight corridor, less than 
ten feet wide ; some accident must have befallen 
them. Worst of all, there was no time for delay ; 
the cage had just come for them, and in the dis- 
tance could be heard the steps of the approach- 


228 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


ing miners, as they came in for the change of 
shift. 

“We mustn’t keep the cage waiting for us, now,” 
said Mr. Everett hastily. “You go up with the 
others, Somers, and I ’ll go back and look them 
up. They can’t be far off.” 

Turning, he walked rapidly back up the cross- 
cut, expecting at every moment to meet the tru- 
ants, so sure was he that they had only loitered 
along behind the others, absorbed in discussing 
the spiritual welfare of Wang Kum and his Mon- 
golian brethren. It was not until he had turned 
into the drift, and paused to question a group of 
miners whom he met there, that he began to be 
seriously alarmed. The men had not seen Mrs. 
Pennypoker and her escort since they had all 
been together at the head of the drift. Mr. Ever- 
ett felt no hesitation in accepting their statement, 
for, in their ignorance of the relationship between 
the superintendent and his cousin, the miners 
spoke of Mrs. Pennypoker’s appearance in such 
unguarded terms as left him no room to doubt 
their knowledge of the person for whom he was 
seeking. However, he still kept on to the head of 
the drift, thinking it possible that they might be in 
some dark corner, though he could think of no 


AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


229 


reason which should tempt them to conceal them- 
selves in any such fashion. But his quest was 
unavailing, and, facing about, he returned to the 
head of the cross-cut where he paused, uncertain 
what course to pursue. Then he opened his 
mouth and shouted their names, with the full 
power of his strong bass voice. The sound 
echoed up and down through the galleries and 
then died away, to be followed by a high-pitched 
feminine shriek. 

The cry came from the opposite end of the drift 
from the one which they had been exploring, and 
Mr. Everett turned his steps in that direction. 
This end had been abandoned, some days before, 
in consequence of a serious leak in the pipes con- 
necting with the pump ; and it was now only 
lighted for a short distance beyond the mouth of 
the cross-cut. Now that the pump had ceased, the 
water had settled over the floor, to form a deep, 
thick clay which rendered progress slow and diffi- 
cult. He had just passed the last electric light 
and was proceeding even more cautiously than 
before, when he came to an abrupt halt. The 
feeble glimmer of his miner’s lamp had fallen upon 
a strange picture, and one whose meaning he was 
not slow to grasp. 


230 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


At one side of the drift and leaning against the 
wall, stood Mrs. Pennypoker, with one foot drawn 
up under her, much in the attitude of a meditative 
hen. A few feet away from her, the doctor was 
bending forward, with his lamp extended in one 
hand, while with his other he held his cane, which 
he was poking about in the soft, sticky mud. 

‘‘Well,” said Mr. Everett at length, after he had 
watched them in silence, during some moments ; 
“ what are you doing here? ” 

The Reverend Gabriel and Mrs. Pennypoker 
both started guiltily. So interested had they been 
in their search, that they had been unconscious of 
Mr. Everett’s approach until he stood before them. 
In her surprise, Mrs. Pennypoker came near losing 
her balance, and, to support herself, she put down 
her other foot. It was a shapely foot, and was 
covered with an immaculate white stocking, for 
Mrs. Pennypoker still adhered to some of the 
fashions of her far-off youth. Then the Reverend 
Gabriel answered. 

“ We inadvertently strayed from our way and 
came into this place, without realizing whither our 
steps were leading us,” he said, while he contin- 
ued to prod the mud before him ; “ and at length 
we fell, as you might observe, intq the miry clay. 



“ His lamp extended in one hand, while with his other he held his 
cane, which he was poking about in the soft, sticky mud.” 

— Page 230. 


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AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL. 


231 


I had just suggested the expediency of our return, 
when Mrs. Pennypoker — um — in short, met with 
an accident which unduly detained us and — ah, 
I have it ! ” he exclaimed triumphantly, as he 
carefully worked his stick out through the earth, 
and extended it in mid-air, with a shapeless, drip- 
ping mass hanging on its tip. 

No further explanation was needed. Mrs. Pen- 
nypoker, as has been said, still clung to some of 
the fashions of bygone days ; and, among other 
similar foibles, she cherished a fondness for con- 
gress gaiters, and invariably 'wore those feeble 
apologies for shoes whose limp cloth uppers are 
held in place by means of elastic wedges at the 
sides. In arraying herself for her visit to the 
mine, with characteristic New England thrift, she 
had put on an ancient pair of these gaiters, whose 
elastic sides had long since lost all their spring, 
and lay in ample folds about her ankles. 

As Mr. Everett had surmised, his cousin, feeling 
no deep interest in the mine, had fallen into a 
theological discussion with her pastor. This had 
so engrossed them both that they had lost their 
way, and had only come to their senses when they 
found themselves in the dark, muddy passage of 
the deserted drift. They had hastily turned to 


232 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


retrace their steps, when Mrs. Pennypoker’s foot 
slipped and plunged deep down into the clay ; and, 
on her withdrawing it, she was horrified to feel that 
her foot was slowly but surely pulling out of her 
gaiter, instead of pulling her gaiter out with it. 
In vain she had attempted to work her foot down 
into her shoe once more ; in vain she had endeav- 
ored to hook her bent toes into it, with a hold 
sufficient to draw it out. The mischief was done, 
and she could only lift up her foot, while the soft 
mud quickly settled in above the gaiter, and left 
no trace of the spot where it lay embedded. 

It was evidently impossible for her to wade back 
to the cross-cut without it, and her size, age and 
dignity all combined to make it equally impossible 
for her to hop on one foot as far as the cross-cut ; 
so she had been forced to come to a halt, while 
her companion prospected about in the earth, to- 
find the vein in which his treasure was buried. 
At last it was found ; but not even Mrs. Euphemia 
Pennypoker could present a dignified appearance 
as she received her muddy shoe from the end of 
the Reverend Gabriel’s cane, drew it on to her 
foot, and walked away towards the station, with 
mingled clay and water oozing out from her gaitqr, 
at h^r every step. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 

Once more winter had come, and the snow lay 
deep and white over the little camp. The pines 
on the mountain sides looked a hazy blue against 
the glistening slopes, and the bald white summits 
of the mountains themselves stood out in bold 
relief against the clear blue heavens. Even the 
night sky was changed at that altitude, for the 
stars glittered down through the cold, still air, with 
an intensity which made them look like gleaming 
bits of metal scattered over the dense, dark-blue 
clouds ; while often and often the north was 
lighted with the glare of the pale aurora which 
streamed far across the sky, in long, waving ban- 
ners of rose color or light green. 

*‘But I like the way you people out here 
make fun of New England weather,’* remonstrated 
Charlie one day, as he stood in the front window, 
watching a sudden flurry of snow sweep down 
through the canon. ‘‘ When I went down town to 
get the mail, this morning, it was raining so hard 
233 


234 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


that I wore my mackintosh ; but, by the time I 
was at the post-ofifice, the sun was shining. I 
walked straight back home again, and it was hail- 
ing when I came up the steps. What sort of a 
climate do you call it, anyway? ” 

“ A perfect one,” returned Allie loyally. 

“ Not much ! Montana buys up the job lots of 
weather left over from the other States, and cuts 
them up small before she serves them out again, 
just as they happen to come. Montana weather 
and Montana slang are the two richest crops in the 
State.” 

The past two months had been unbroken by 
any event of marked importance. Between their 
lessons and their frolics, the time of the young 
people had been well filled, and the days had 
hurried by, without any one’s stopping to ask where 
they had gone. At the Burnams’, life was going 
on smoothly and pleasantly, although Mr. Burnam 
was now busy in the field, hurrying to accomplish 
all that he could, before the storms of February 
should drive his party out of the mountains, until 
the spring thaws made field work possible once 
more. 

By way of helping to pass the long winter even- 
ings, Charlie had tried to bribe Allie to become 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 235 

his pupil and, after his hour of practice was 
ended, he usually took her in hand for a time, in a 
vain endeavor to teach her to play. But, in spite 
of her desire to please her cousin, Allie had neither 
the patience nor steadiness needful to keep her at 
the piano ; and she much preferred to settle her- 
self comfortably in front of the fire, and listen to 
her cousin’s performances, rather than go through 
the drudgery of scales and exercises, upon which 
Charlie insisted, as the orthodox preparation for 
later work. Accordingly, Allie’s music usually 
ended in a playful - skirmish which sent Charlie 
back to the piano, to beguile her into good temper 
again, by means of some favorite melody. On 
rare occasions, when she was uncommonly meek, 
or when all other employment failed, she would be 
coaxed into running up and down over a few 
scales ; but, in the end, her fingers invariably 
became snarled up with her thumbs ; and, after 
one or two discordant crashes on the keys, she 
gave it up and threatened to buy a hand-organ for 
her contribution to the family music. 

Her singing appeared to succeed no better. 
While she had a sweet, flexible voice, and went 
about the house singing softly to herself, as soon 
as she approached the piano a spirit of perversity 


236 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

seemed to enter into her, and she wandered along 
at her own sweet will, perfectly regardless of the 
time and key of the accompaniment with which 
Charlie was struggling to follow her. At length her 
cousin was forced to abandon his efforts and allow 
her to drop back into her old place as listener, 
a part which she always played with perfect suc- 
cess and contentment, while he turned his atten- 
tion to the others. Grant was taking banjo lessons 
now, and Ned occasionally strummed a little on 
the venerable guitar which Louise had thrown 
aside in favor of her mandolin ; so their little 
orchestra was frequently in demand to fill in gaps 
in an evening’s entertainment. Howard and Mar- 
jorie, too, were ready to add their share of music, 
for they had toiled away in secret till they had 
mastered one or two simple duets, which they in- 
variaby sang whenever an opportunity offered. 

In the mean time, a warm friendship had devel- 
oped between Mr. Everett and Dr. Brownlee. The 
young doctor was now a frequent guest at the 
superintendent’s house, where he had quickly 
become popular with them all, even to Mrs. Pen- 
nypoker, who never failed to array herself in her 
best gown and unbend her majesty whenever he 
was expected to appear. The acquaintance started 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 23/ 

during their camping expedition had rapidly ri- 
pened into a mutual liking, and it was surprising 
to see how often the younger man found time to 
drop in at Mr. Everett’s ofhce, late in the after- 
noon, for a few minutes’ conversation. Once there, 
it was only natural that he should walk home with 
his friend, and, after a little polite hesitation, accept 
his invitation to come in for a call. Little by little 
the calls grew in length until, from accepting occa- 
sional invitations to dine, the doctor came to stay, 
quite as a matter of course, although he still made 
a feeble pretence of rising to go away, before 
yielding to their suggestion of dinner and a game 
of whist later on in the evening. At length, even 
this form was abandoned, and it grew to be an 
established fact that, whenev^ the doctor dropped 
in for an afternoon call, an extra plate and chair 
should be included in the dinner preparations, and 
that the card table should be brought out as soon 
as the meal was over. It also soon came to be a 
matter of course that Louise and the doctor should 
always play together, while Mr. Everett and Mrs. 
Pennypoker ranged themselves against them, and 
devoted their attention to the game with unswerv- 
ing vigilance. Not even Mrs. Pennypoker had 
been able to withstand the doctor’s genial, hearty 


238 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


manner; and, in his presence, she laid aside er 
eye-glasses and her dignity, and laughed at all his 
jokes in an appreciative fashion, which Ned and 
Grant were quite at a loss to understand, since she 
never paid the slightest heed to their attempts at 
facetiousness. 

In spite of the strict etiquette of the game 
which demands such perfect silence and watch- 
fulness, it is strange how rapidly a newly-formed 
acquaintance can grow into strong friendship 
around a whist table. Everything conspires to help 
it on : the absorption of the opponents in their 
own hands ; the chivalrous offer, on one side, 
to do all the dealing, and the grateful accept- 
ing of the courtesy on the other; and, most of 
all, the moment of hesitation over a doubtful 
play, followed by the silent meeting of the eyes, 
as the trick falls to one or the other. And yet, 
neither Louise nor Dr. Brownlee realized in the 
least whither they were so rapidly drifting. The 
doctor still regarded Mr. Everett as his chief 
friend in the family, and thankfully accepted his 
hospitality, which broke in so pleasantly upon his 
solitary life at the boarding-house, where the long 
table was presided over by his landlady, with her 
cap awry and her sleeves rolled to her elbcws. 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 2^g 

while she gossiped volubly with her boarders, 
in the intervals of her skirmishes with the frowsy 
waiting maid. And Louise? She only knew that 
she eiijoyed the society of the young doctor, just 
as her father and Mrs. Pennypoker appeared to 
enjoy it; but, all unconsciously to herself, her 
young life was rounding out with a new, sweet 
meaning; and the womanhood opening before her 
was daily gaining fresh inspiration and purpose, 
from the influence of the true, earnest manhood 
of their frequent guest. 

But the time had slipped away and Christmas 
was at hand. The week before the festival found 
the young people much absorbed in a little enter- 
tainment, to be given for the benefit of some local 
charity, in which they were all to take a part. 
Mr. Nelson had started the project, and had called 
upon Dr. Brownlee and Louise to help him form 
and carry out his plans. After much discussion, it 
had been arranged to have an hour of music and 
readings, followed by a play in which the doctor 
and Louise, Charlie, Marjorie, and Allie should be 
the actors. The play was quickly chosen, a lit- 
tle French one which Louise had translated, and 
adapted to their meagre resources of costume and 
scenery; and the rehearsals had been going on 


240 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


for some weeks, until the success of the enterprise* 
was sufficiently assured to allow them to an- 
nounce their plans and decide upon the date. 
The dress rehearsal had been held before a select 
audience of fathers and mothers, who were hearty 
in their praises of the saucy maid and the irre- 
pressible young brother, while they thoroughly 
enjoyed the spirited acting of Louise, who, in the 
person of the widowed mother, did all that lay in 
her power to thwart the flirtations between the doc- 
tor and Allie, until her efforts were set at naught 
by the disloyalty of her maid and the traditions of 
amateur acting, which demand a happy ending to 
every love affair. 

The little hall was well filled, the next evening. 
Audiences in Blue Creek were often rather mixed ; 
and, on this particular occasion, rich and poor, 
young and old, had gathered, to show their interest 
in a worthy cause, and their liking for the young 
actors, whose unvarying kindness and courtesy 
had made them favorites throughout the town. 
Even Janey’s black face looked on from the 
background, while far at one side sat Wang 
Kum with two of his friends, whom he had per- 
suaded to buy tickets, as a proof of their loyalty 
to Louise. 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 24 1 

Behind the scenes there reigned the usual con- 
fusion, preparatory to the rising of the curtain. 
Moreover, in some quarters, there existed grave 
doubts of the curtain’s being prevailed upon to 
rise at all, since, the night before, it had persist- 
ently stuck fast, at two feet from the floor. At 
length all was in readiness for the first part of the 
program, and Charlie had just stepped forward to 
make his bow, before seating himself at the piano, 
when the doctor hurriedly approached Louise. 

“ Can you spare me, for three quarters of an 
hour?” he asked. “I’ve just heard, by the 
merest chance, that the evening train is off the 
track, down in the cut below the station. The en- 
gine jumped the track, and pulled the baggage car 
after it ; they both rolled over, and they say one 
man is hurt. Nobody has sent for me ; but I ’d 
like to just run down, and see if I can be of any 
use.” 

For a moment, Louise looked aghast at the idea 
of losing her chief actor and assistant. Then she 
said cordially, — 

“ Go, of course. We ’ll arrange to do without 
you, in some way.” 

The doctor’s eyes thanked her ; but he wasted 
no time in mere words, as he went on hastily, — 


242 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


“ I wouldn’t say anything to the audience, for 
’t would just break up the whole affair. If you ’ll 
put off my reading till just before your last duet 
with Charlie, I ’ll be here, unless there ’s serious 
trouble. If there is any reason that I can’t come, 
I ’ll send word at once.” And he was gone. 

The program of the first part of the evening 
was drawing smoothly to its close. Charlie had 
delighted his audience with his playing, both 
alone and with the Everett boys ; Howard and 
Marjorie had sung a new duet, which they had 
learned, in honor of the occasion ; and Allie had 
convulsed her more critical hearers with a recita- 
tion, which she had rendered with an originality 
of tone and gesture that would have struck terror 
to the followers of Delsarte, even though it had 
won her the first encore of the evening. Then, 
after a moment’s enjoyment of the continued 
applause which had followed her disappearance 
from the stage, she came back once more, and 
gave them ‘‘Aunt Tabitha.” She threw herself 
into it with an abandonment of fun which, in itself, 
would have been enough to show her sympathy 
with the trend of the poem, while she could not 
forbear glaring defiantly down upon Mrs. Penny- 
poker’s uplifted countenance, as she delivered 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 243 

herself of the closing lines, with a fervor that 
astonished her audience, — 

“ ‘ But when to the altar a victim I go, 

Aunt Tabitha ’ll tell me she never did so.’ ” 

And she swept off from the little stage, in a 
parting storm of cheers. 

In the mean time, Louise had heard nothing 
from Dr. Brownlee ; and she was beginning to 
grow uneasy, for the time for his reading was at 
hand, and the play was to follow it almost imme- 
diately. She was just resolving to give up all 
hope, and bring the entertainment to a hasty 
close, when she saw the doctor come hurry- 
ing in at the side door. She turned to Charlie 
MacGregor, who chanced to be standing near 
her. 

“Will you help me out, Charlie?” she asked. 
“ Go on again, and play — anything, I don’t care 
what, just to give Dr. Brownlee time to get his 
breath.” 

“But strikes me they’ve had about all of me 
they can stand,” demurred Charlie. 

“ Never mind if they have,” said Louise. “ There 
isn’t anybody else that can appear, at a minute’s 
warning. Go, please.” 

The next moment the doctor was by her side. 


244 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Miss Everett, have you any powder?” he 
asked, laughing a little, as he pointed to a great 
purplish bruise on the side of his forehead. 

“ Dr. Brownlee ! ” she exclaimed in alarm. 
“What is it? Are you hurt?” 

“ Hush ! ” he said, in a low voice, though he 
was conscious of a quick sense of pleasure at the 
anxiety of her tone. “ It ’s only a bump ; but it 
doesn’t look well, and I don’t want it to show. 
Can’t you cover it up somehow, before I go on?” 

“Come this way,” she said hastily. “Dm not 
much used to powder, but I ’ll see what I can do. 
Tell me,” she begged, as the doctor dropped 
into a chair; “what has happened? It’s a bad 
bruise, and your cheek is cut; what was it?” 

“ I was helping them get the man out of the 
car, and . one of the beams fell against me ; 
that ’s all. I found the new doctor. Dr. Hofer, in 
charge; so I just helped him lift the man out, and 
then came back here,” he answered as lightly as 
he could, and without adding a word about the 
moments that he himself had lain there stunned 
from the force of the blow on his head. 

Louise looked down at him anxiously. His 
face was white, and his hands were a little 
unsteady. 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 245 

Please don’t try to read, Dr. Brownlee,” she 
urged. “ I ’m sure you don’t feel able.” 

“ I ’m all right,” he said, rousing himself with a 
forced laugh ; “ if you can cover up the spot so it 
won’t show. I don’t want them to think I ’ve been 
fighting.” 

He resigned himself into her hands, while she 
hunted among the properties for the powder-puff 
and the comb, and then did her best to conceal the 
great bruise on his temple, which had quickly 
swollen and turned dark. But, even as she did so, 
she felt a sudden impulse to drop the puff and run 
away, rather than meet the earnest gaze of the gray 
eyes looking so steadily up into her own, and listen 
to the quiet “ Thank you,” which greeted the end 
of the toilet, as the doctor rose and stepped for- 
ward to take his place on the stage. 

At the suggestion of Mr. Nelson, he had decided 
to read “ Elizabeth ” ; and Louise, as she stood at 
the side of the stage, listening to the quaint old tale 
of the Quaker wooing, found herself forgetting all 
her surroundings in the interest of the familiar 
story. Dr. Brownlee had turned a little to one 
side, in order to conceal his discolored temple 
from the audience, and this brought him into a 
position directly facing the young woman who, 


246 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


quite unconsciously, made a charming picture in 
the gown she had donned for the play. Just in the 
act of turning a leaf of the book in his hand, the 
doctor raised his eyes, and they rested upon her 
fair young face. As he did so, there rushed into 
his mind the memory of her womanly pity and 
gentleness in caring for his bruise, and he seemed 
to feel again the touch of her light hands upon his 
hair. He paused ; then, with his gaze still fixed 
upon her, he went on in his quiet voice, low, but 
so distinct that not a syllable was lost on its 
hearers, — 

“ ‘ I have something to tell thee, 

Not to be spoken lightly, nor in the presence of others. 

Them it concerneth not, only thee and me it concerneth.’ ” 

Just then Louise raised her eyes to his ; but, as 
she met the intentness of his look, her own eyes 
drooped, while the color rushed to her cheeks and 
then fled again. For a moment more the doctor’s 
eyes rested upon her, then he went on with his 
reading ; but his voice was unsteady and his heart 
was throbbing with the sudden new hope that had 
come to him. 

The reading was ended, and the curtain fell 
amid the enthusiastic applause of the audience, 
who devoted the intermission to discussing the 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STORY. 247 

performers, with a ^perfect unconsciousness of the 
fact that two of them had entered upon a new 
life during the past hour. Though their secret 
was as yet unspoken, that one look had taught 
both Louise and Dr. Brownlee that the stories 
of their future lives were written in the same 
volume. Already they had glanced at the pref- 
ace, and soon the first chapter would lie open in 
their hands. 

But now there was no time for any such 
thoughts, for chaos once more reigned behind the 
scenes, as the actors hastily dressed for the play ; 
and, within a few moments, the curtain rose again 
upon the transformed scene. Howard and the 
Everett boys, who had finished their share in the 
program, had come out into the audience in order 
to get a better view of the stage. After a little 
hesitation, they had discovered some vacant seats 
behind Wang Kum and his friends, who were 
sitting spellbound in their admiration of the scenes 
before them. For a time the boys listened atten- 
tively ; but a constant attendance at the rehearsals 
had made the play an old story to them, and their 
interest began to flag. Grant was lazily leaning 
back in his seat, with one hand outstretched, ab- 
stractedly swinging Wang Kum’s pigtail to and 


248 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


fro, when Ned suddenly started up, with a naughty 
sparkle in his dark eyes. 

Say, Howard, haven’t you a piece of string in 
some of your pockets?” he whispered. 

“Id ’know,” answered Howard, in the same 
stealthy tone. “ What you want ? ” 

Ned bent over to speak a few low words in his 
ear, and both the boys began to giggle. 

“ What’s the joke? ” inquired Grant curiously; 
while Howard dived into one pocket after another. 

Ned cautiously imparted the secret to his 
brother, who received it with manifest delight; 
then he took possession of the dozen or more 
scraps of twine that Howard had produced, and 
tied them together to form one long string. This 
done, he appeared to lose all consciousness of the 
people around him, in the interest of the play, for 
he bent forward with his hands on his knees and 
stared fixedly at the stage. A moment later he 
drew a long breath and leaned back in his chair. 
Then it became apparent that his hands had not 
been idle, for one end of the string was securely 
tied about the tip of Wang Kum’s queue, and 
woven in and out through the openwork back of 
his chair, while the rest of the string was in How- 
ard’s hands, to be passed on in turn to Grant. 


THE BEGINNING OF THE OLD STOIIY. 249 

Five minutes afterwards the three unconscious 
Chinamen were firmly lashed to their seats and 
the boys had once more disappeared behind the 
scenes. 

The play was at last ended, and the actors were 
called before the curtain for one final round of 
applause, in which the Chinamen joined with unflag- 
ging zeal. Then the audience rose to leave the 
hall, and the miners respectfully stood aside to let 
their superintendent and his party take the lead. 
Wang and his brethren still sat quiet, watching the 
people flock past them, with an evident determina- 
tion to stay until the very end ; but at length they 
too grasped their hats and started to rise. The next 
instant there was a clattering of chairs, followed by 
three startled howls, which broke upon the air and 
turned every face in the same direction. There in 
a row stood the three Chinamen, ruefully rubbing 
the backs of their heads, while their little almond 
eyes seemed to be popping out from their sockets, 
with surprise and with the unwonted strain upon 
their scalps. From the end of every pigtail dan- 
gled one of the light folding chairs which filled the 
room. Howard’s strings were as strong as Ned’s 
knots were firm. The Chinamen had not risen 
from their seats; their seats had risen with the 
Chinamen. 


CHAPTER XV. 


MR. ATHERDEN. 

‘‘ Really and truly, Charlie, I never should 
have known you ; you look so perfectly elegant.” 

Thank you, ma’am ! ” And Charlie bowed low 
before his cousin, who joined him in the laugh at 
the unexpected form that her intended compliment 
had taken. 

You know what I mean,” she said saucily. 
“Of course, you ’re always a dear old boy, even 
if you aren’t a beauty. But now there ’s a sort of 
young man look to you, that makes me half afraid 
of you.” 

“ Perhaps, if you stayed so, you ’d treat me a 
little better,” suggested Charlie teasingly. “ I 
feel most uncommon queer, though. Do you 
honestly like the looks, Allie?” 

Allie dropped into an easy-chair, and surveyed 
him from head to foot. 

“ Now turn around very slowly,” she com- 
manded ; “ and then walk off a few steps, so. 

Yes,” she added, after an admiring pause; 

250 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


251 


“you really do look very well, considering who 
you are; only I never, never should know you. 
It just changes you all over, and makes you seem 
four or five years older.” 

“ Wish I were ! ” remarked Charlie medita- 
tively. “ Only I should be ready for college 
then, and have to go back East and leave you. 
What a jolly year this has been ! ” 

“ Yes, it has,” assented Allie absently. She was 
still looking up at her cousin, with a feeling of 
sisterly pride in the tall, straight figure before 
her. 

Montana had evidently agreed with the boy, 
for, during the year he had spent there, he had 
grown so rapidly as to leave Howard far below 
him. Contrary to the custom of most boys, he 
bore his added inches with perfect ease, and had 
entirely escaped the stage of awkward conscious- 
ness, which falls to the lot of nearly all growing 
lads. Even now, young as he was, there was a 
quiet dignity in his manner which, combined with 
his manly figure, made it seem high time that he 
should take the first marked step towards man’s 
estate, and leave off knickerbockers. The new 
suit, ordered from New York, had come that day; 
and Charlie had dressed himself up in it, and 


252 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

appeared before Allie, to demand her respectful 
attention. 

Had Charlie attired himself in a checked apron 
and sunbonnet, it would have seemed a thoroughly 
admirable costume to his cousin’s eyes ; but, on 
this particular evening, Allie’s praise was well- 
merited, for the new suit was unmistakably a 
success. Charlie was one of those few, but fortu- 
nate boys who can wear even shabby clothes with 
an air that gives them a certain elegance ; and he 
had grace enough to enable him to escape the 
usual awkwardness, which comes to the young 
girl in managing her first train, to the boy in 
appearing in his first long suit. As Allie had said 
it made him look much older and more digni- 
fied, until she almost felt that she had lost her 
jovial playfellow, and stood in the presence of a 
fine young man. Still, she liked the change, as 
long as it really was the same old Charlie ; and 
she continued to watch him, while a little con- 
tented smile gathered about the corners of her 
mouth. 

“ Yes,” she repeated ; “ I should hardly have 
known you. Come here a minute, and I can 
change you so you wouldn’t recognize yourself a 
bit.” 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


253 


Charlie laughed at the seriousness of her tone, 
as he seated himself on the arm of her chair, 
while she patted and poked at his hair, until she 
had parted it in the middle and brushed it away 
from his forehead, where it usually lay in a dose, 
short fringe. She studied the effect for a moment; 
then she gently pulled off his glasses. 

“ Poor old boy ! ” she said caressingly, as she 
drew her finger down along the narrow white scar 
that crossed his upper lid. You still carry your 
beauty-spot ; don’t you ? I wish ’t would go away.” 

“What for? Does it show so very much?” 
asked Charlie. 

“ No, not a bit, with your glasses on ; but I never 
like to think back to that horrid day,” she replied, 
with a frown. “ I was sure you were going to die, 
or something.” 

“ Well, I didn’t. You see, I ’m tough,” returned 
Charlie placidly. “ Besides, we had some good 
fun together, after the first week or two. But how 
do you like the looks? ” 

“ Your own great-grandmother wouldn’t have 
any idea who you were,” said Allie decidedly. 

“ Most likely not,” observed Charlie. 

“But just you go and look in the glass, and see 
for yourself! ” And Allie sprang up, and dragged 


254 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


her cousin to the nearest mirror. All at once she 
began to caper madly about the room. 

“What’s struck you, Allie?” inquired Charlie, 
pausing in his contemplation of himself to stare 
at his excited cousin. 

“ I ’ve just had the most lovely idea,” said 
Allie incoherently. “It’s too much fun for any- 
thing, and we must do it.” 

“ Do what? ” 

“Well, now you see here,” she was beginning, 
with sudden solemnity, when her cousin inter- 
rupted her, — 

“ Give me my glasses, then.” 

“Yes, I know that; but listen! Don’t you 
wear your suit again this week, nor tell anybody 
you have it, and don’t let Howard tell, either. 
Next Tuesday is Mrs. Fisher’s * At Home,’ you 
know ; and we ’ll dress you up, and you can go 
over there, and everybody will take you for a 
strange young man. Won’t it be fun?” 

“ Fine I ” responded Charlie, as he led the way 
back to the parlor, and took his favorite position, 
leaning against the mantel. “ Only I ’m afraid 
everybody ’d know me.” 

“ Truly they wouldn’t,” answered Allie. “ Can’t 
you buy a mustache down at Bright’s? That 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


255 


would finish it all up, and nobody would ever 
have any idea who you are. You ’re as tall as 
papa is, now.”" 

“ Well, I ’ll think about it,” said Charlie. “ I ’m 
a little bit afraid to try, only it would be such 
immense fun. You keep mum about it, though, 
and maybe we can put it through.” 

Allie carried her point; and, directly after 
dinner, the next Tuesday evening, Howard was 
solemnly warned not to go near his room. A 
little later Allie knocked at the door and was 
admitted. Just across the threshold, she stopped 
in surprise and delight, as she caught sight of the 
elegant young man who rose to meet her. 

How perfectly splendid ! ” she exclaimed. 
‘‘Where did you ever get such a mustache? It 
just matches your hair, and looks as if it must 
grow on.” 

“ Hope I don’t lose it off! ” returned Charlie 
fervently, as he rendered himself temporarily 
cross-eyed, in his efforts to catch a glimpse of 
the silky thatch on his upper lip. But I wish 
you ’d take my hair in hand, Allie ; it’s so used to 
a bang, that it just won’t stay parted.” 

“ Let me try.” And Allie took the comb, and 
devoted herself to coaxing her cousin’s refractory 


256 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


locks to lie in the desired position. It wants to 
be just in the middle, for you ’re going to be the 
dearest little dudelet you ever saw. Now take off 
your glasses.” 

“ Oh, I must have those,” remonstrated Charlie. 
“ I ’m blind as a bat without them, and I shall be 
sure to run into something, and tip it over.” 

“ No, you won’t,” said Allie composedly. “If 
you wear them, people will be sure to know you.” 

“ But, if I take them off, my scar will show,” 
argued Charlie ; “ and that will give it all away. 
But, I say, I have some eye-glasses somewhere, 
that the oculist gave me, to start with. I don’t 
ever wear them, ’cause they wouldn’t stick to my 
nose. I lost them off into the soup, the first 
night at dinner, and I bought my spectacles early 
the next morning ; but perhaps I can keep them 
on now.” 

“ I should think you ought to ; your nose is 
large enough,” remarked Allie, with calm disre- 
spect. “ But get them ; I can tell better when I 
see them.” 

There was an interval of silence, while Charlie 
rummaged in his bureau drawers. At length he 
unearthed the little case from a box containing an 
odd assortment of light hardware, broken knives. 


MR. ATHERDEN. 257 

stray nails, an awl or two, and a collection of 
trout reels and flies. 

“Here ’t is,” he said. “I remember now; I 
used it to wind my best line on. How will they 
go?” And he turned to face his cousin, with a 
conscious laugh which promptly dislodged the 
glasses from his nose. 

. “That’s better,” said Allie approvingly; “they 
don’t look a bit the same. I don’t like them as 
well as I do the spectacles, for all the time ; but 
they change you more. Now remember to be 
very easy and elegant, and don’t act shy. Be- 
have as if you thought you were very good to 
speak to them, and they ’ll like you all the better. 
And be sure you don’t go too early.” 

“But what are you going to do now?” de- 
manded Charlie, as she turned to the door. 
“You aren’t going to be mean enough to leave 
me here all alone, till it’s time to go?” 

“ I ’m going to dress me,” returned Allie. “ I 
begged an invitation from Marjorie, and I ’m 
going over there with mamma. You don’t sup- 
pose that I ’m going to lose all the fun, do 
you?” And she departed. 

Society in Blue Creek was by no means as 
simple as a stranger might have been led to 


258 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


expect. During the winter months, there were 
few evenings that were not given up to some 
• entertainment ; and the little set to which the 
Burnams and Fishers and Everetts belonged were 
the gayest of the gay, with dinner parties and 
impromptu dances following one another in rapid 
succession. The enjoyment of these festivities 
was in no wise marred by the fact that one 
always met exactly the same people. Though 
the resources of the camp were not great, yet this 
set of friends was a thoroughly congenial one, 
consisting, as it did, of a dozen or more young 
married couples, together with several stray bach- 
elors and a very few older people. Young women 
were deplorably scarce in Blue Creek, and, for a 
year, Louise had been the acknowledged belle 
among them, as she would have been, however, in 
the face of many rivals. Strangers, who were at- 
tracted to her side by her beauty, remained there, 
charmed by her easy manners and her ready wit ; 
so, wherever she went she was sure to be the cen- 
tral figure of a little group of admirers, of whom 
Dr. Brownlee was usually the one nearest her side. 

According to one of the pleasant customs of 
the little town, Mrs. Fisher had her weekly recep- 
tion day. On Tuesday evenings, her house was 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


259 


always filled with the friends whom, with rare 
tact, she left to entertain themselves, while she 
moved up and down her charming rooms, with a' 
word to one and a smile for another, now break- 
ing in upon a flirtation which threatened to last 
too long, now bringing stray wallflowers into the 
middle of some hospitable group, and never for 
an instant forgetting to keep a watchful eye over 
any stranger who might chance to be among her 
guests. There was an attractive informality about 
these evenings, when one was at liberty to appear 
in a street gown, or an evening costume, and 
where the little supper was so simple as merely 
to be a pleasant break in the midst of the 
dancing, but not to suggest the idea of an over- 
burdened hostess, struggling to feed a ravenous 
multitude. No one else in the town had quite 
the same gift for entertaining as Mrs. Fisher ; no 
one else could carry out an “At Home ” with quite 
such delightful simplicity. She gave them the use 
of her house, together with a cordial, unaffected 
welcome, and she left the rest to take care of 
itself. With this happy talent for receiving her 
friends, it was not strange that the tall, blonde 
woman was one of the most popular matrons in 
the camp. 


26 o 


IN BLUE CREE-K CANON. 


This Tuesday evening was bidding fair to be as 
pleasant as its predecessors had been. The rooms 
were filled, and the air was echoing with the soft 
buzz of voices. A little pause in the dancing had 
scattered the young people, who were wandering 
about, some in the back parlor, watching the older 
guests grouped about the whist tables, some in the 
“ den,” across the hall, where the only light came 
from the great blazing fire which flickered over 
the pictures on the walls, and over the easy-chairs 
scattered about the cosy room At the very back 
of the broad hall sat Louise and Dr. Brownlee, 
resting after their waltz, while they talked of one 
thing and another, the every-day interests which 
they shared in common. All at once Mrs. Fisher 
stood before them, with a young man at her 
side. 

“ I have been looking for you, Louise,” she 
said. “ Here is some one that I want to intro- 
duce to you: Mr. Atherden, Miss Everett. Mr. 
Atherden is a stranger. Miss Everett,” she added ; 
“ and I leave it to you to make him feel at home. 
Dr. Brownlee, I wish you ’d come and play the 
agreeable to Mrs. Nelson ; she is looking dread- 
fully bored.” And she led him away towards the 
parlor. 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


261 


As Louise glanced up, at the introduction, she 
had been attracted by the young stranger before 
her. He was a man of about her own age, ap- 
parently, not very tall, but with a proud, erect 
carriage and a simple dignity which gave him the 
look of being a much larger man. His face, in 
spite of his eye-glasses and his silky, brown 
mustache, was almost boyish in its outlines ; and 
he was faultlessly dressed, from his white tie and 
the white carnation in his buttonhole, down to 
the toes of his shining shoes. His whole appear- 
ance was so likable that Louise welcomed him cor- 
dially, in spite of her regret at losing the doctor’s 
society, and at once set about making him feel at 
home. 

“ How long have you been in Blue Creek, Mr. 
Atherden?” she asked politely. “I don’t re- 
member meeting you before.” 

“ I only came a week ago,” replied Mr. Ather- 
den, as he took possession of the chair which Dr. 
Brownlee had so lately quitted. I ’ve been in San 
Francisco, the last two or three years ; but I came 
up here to see about” — He hesitated for an 
instant; then he went on, with a little laugh. 
^'Well, the fact is, I came up here to open an 
ofhce. I ’m a doctor, you know, and I heard that 


262 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


you hadn’t a very good one here, and that there 
was a possible opening for another man.” 

“ Indeed? ” Louise’s tone was icy in its polite- 
ness. 

“Yes,” resumed the young man, eyeing her 
closely; “ so I thought I’d run up here and see 
for myself; but I found a first-rate man was in j 
ahead of me, so I must depart in search of a fresh 
field.” 

“ Then you are not to stay long?” said Louise, 
as she smiled on him with all her former kindness. 

“ Blue Creek is really a pleasant place when you 
are used to it. You are unfortunate in seeing it at 
this season.” 

Her companion made some light answer, and 
they went on chatting like a pair of old friends. 
Louise was soon delighted to find that the stranger 
cared for music as much as she did, and was 
familiar with the best works of the masters, while . 
he showed a thorough acquaintance with New 
York and its surroundings which was remarkable 
in a man who professed to have spent his life in ] 
California. There was something indescribably j 
charming in his quiet ease of mariner and in his 1 
boyish fun ; and Louise found herself thoroughly I 
enjoying their pleasant, off-hand conversation. 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


263 


though all the time she was conscious of a hazy 
resemblance to some one whom she had met before. 
Moved by this uncertain idea, she studied him 
closely, while in her own mind she went over and 
over her list of acquaintances, trying to find the 
person of whom she was thinking. Nor could she 
tell wherein the resemblance lay, whether in the 
voice, the manner, or in some feature ; and yet it 
was there all the time, a fleeting, haunting likeness 
to some former friend. Then she thought she had 
a clue, for, in answer to a sudden jest on her part, 
the stranger laughed until his glasses fell off and 
dropped to the floor, and as he stooped to pick 
them up, she caught sight of a tiny scar on his 
right eyelid. Surely she had seen that scar before, 
or, at least, one much like it ; and once more she 
went through her friends, trying to place the mark, 
but with no better success than before. 

For a long half hour they sat there, while Mr. 
Atherden entertained her so well that she was quite 
unconscious of Dr. Brownlee, who came to the 
parlor door more than once to cast a longing 
glance in her direction. But her back was turned 
towards him, and she was too much interested in 
their talk to heed the proudly defiant glance with 
which Mr. Atherden met the gaze of his rival. 


264 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


The doctor was not so slow to interpret his mean- 
ing, and he gave his mustache a vicious jerk, as he 
walked away to pay his homage at some other 
shrine. Mr. Atherden watched him with an 
amused smile ; then he turned to Allie who stood 
before him with a plate of sandwiches in her hand. 

Ah, thank you, my little maid,” he said with 
infinite condescension, while he helped Louise and 
then himself. ‘‘ Mrs. Fisher is to be congratulated 
upon having such charming assistants.” And he 
looked straight up into the eyes of Allie, who 
flushed a rosy red as she hurriedly turned away. 

But supper was over, and the tempting notes of 
a waltz rang out from the piano in the parlor. 
Mr. Atherden rose to his feet. 

“It is a long time since I have danced. Miss 
Everett; may I not have the pleasure now?” And 
settling his glasses firmly on his nose, he smiled 
invitingly down at her, as he stood waiting to lead 
her to the parlor. 

Louise hesitated for a moment. The doctor had 
asked her for this very waltz; but already the 
room was full of moving couples, and she could 
see him dancing with the pretty young teacher, 
lately come from the East. With a little feeling 
of pique she turned to her escort, and was soon 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


265 


gliding about the room with an apparent delight 
in her partner, who was dancing quite as well as 
he had talked. The waltz ended, she turned away, 
without a glance at the neglectful doctor, and fol- 
lowed her new acquaintance to their former seats 
in the hall. 

“ How well you waltz ! ” she said frankly, as she 
fanned herself. It’s such a rare thing to meet a 
really good dancer out here.” 

“ Such a partner would inspire any one,” returned 
her companion gallantly, while he twirled his 
mustache with a complacent delight in it which 
convinced Louise that it was of recent growth. 

Then he entered into a spirited account of his 
journey and his adventures in coming into the 
strange place, while Louise sat leaning back in her 
chair, watching him, haunted by that vague resem- 
blance. Dr. Brownlee was standing just inside the 
parlor door with his eyes fixed upon them long- 
ingly, although he was apparently engrossed by 
the sprightly conversation of his former partner. 
But Mr. Atherden made no motion as if to leave 
his place ; he merely glared defiantly at the doc- 
tor, while he twisted his mustache and chatted on, 
and the doctor was forced to go away again. 

Notwithstanding her apparent unconsciousness 


266 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


of his presence, Louise had looked after him with 
a Little wistful expression in her blue eyes. At that 
moment, she heard a sudden exclamation, and she 
turned back to face her companion once more, 
just in time to see the silky brown mustache yield 
to too violent a jerk and fall into his lap, while the 
young man, in no wise embarrassed by the acci- 
dent, leaned back in his chair and burst into a 
shout of laughter. One glance at him had told 
her the secret of the puzzling resemblance; and' 
she echoed his laugh with a thorough enjoyment 
of the boyish caper. 

“ Charlie MacGregor, you incorrigible imp ! ” 
she exclaimed, when she could get her breath. 
“ How did you ever dare to come here in this 
fashion? ” 

“Why not?” inquired Charlie. “ You ’d never 
have known me now, if this miserable mustache 
had only stuck where it belonged. But, honestly. 
Miss Lou, don’t I make a fair actor? ” 

“ Too good, Charlie,” she answered, with a fresh 
laugh over the unexpected ending to her flirtation. 
“ Why haven’t you ever told us you could waltz 
so well, though ? ” 

“ I didn’t suppose I could ; it ’s so long since 
I ’ve tried it. Besides, none of the other fellows 


MR. ATHERDEN. 


^ • 267 


do, and I was afraid they ’d think 't was silly for a 
boy,” answered Charlie. Allie started this 
scheme, and put on the finishing touches. But 
didn’t you really know me. Miss Lou? ” 

“ Not a bit. Nobody would ever have suspected, 
if you hadn’t been quite so proud of your mus- 
tache, Mr. Atherden. By the way, where did you 
get the name? ” 

“ It ’s my middle one ; didn’t you know that ? ” 

“ No ; but,” she added hastily, “ here comes 
somebody. Really, Charlie, you don’t want to 
spoil the joke by getting caught ; you ’d better go, 
now.” And she pushed him towards the door. 

Five minutes later, she was offering to Mrs. 
Fisher the apologies of her stranger guest, for the 
sudden business which had called him away so 
abruptly. Then, after an- inviting glance which 
promptly brought the doctor to her side, she led 
the way to the “den,” where she pledged him to 
secrecy, and then told him the story of her recent 
com.panion. 

“ But there ’s one sure thing,” Charlie said, with 
impenitent glee, as he was bidding Allie good- 
night; “ for once in my life, I cut Dr. Brownlee 
out with Miss Lou, and that’s something to be 
proud of.” 


CHAPTER XVL 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 

“ They say there’s a case of scarlet fever over 
the other side of the creek,” remarked Mr. Ever- 
ett at dinner, one night about a month after Char- 
lie’s unexpected appearance in society. 

‘‘ Scarlet fever ! Oh, dear, where ? ” asked Louise 
anxiously. 

“ You needn’t be scared, Lou ; people don’t 
catch it at your age,” responded Grant, with broth- 
erly impertinence. 

I ’m not afraid for myself,” she answered seri- 
ously. “Where is it, papa? I don’t want the 
boys to get into it.” 

“It’s way up beyond the smelter,” replied Mr. 
Everett lightly. “You don’t need to worry, Lou, 
for it is so far away, and only a light case. The 
boys would better not go over that way, and then 
they ’ll be safe enough. Dr. Hofer has it in charge, 
so it will probably be all right.” 

“ I suppose so ; but I ’m always afraid of it,” 
said Louise uneasily. “ I hope they ’ll quarantine 
them, or something.” 


268 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 


269 


“ Of course they will,” said her father. “ No 
doctor that ’s half a doctor would let such a matter 
go unguarded. The board, of health wouldn’t 
allow it, either,” he added, in a tone of such deci- 
sion that Louise accepted his belief as final, and 
thought no more about the matter. 

Ten days later she stood before her mirror, 
dressing for a Mardi gras party at the Fishers’. 
For the past three weeks, this coming social event 
had been the chief theme of conversation in Blue 
Creek ; for, taking place, as it did, at the very close 
of the season, it was intended to be a fitting climax 
to all the gayety which had gone before. Louise 
had entered into the spirit of the occasion as 
heartily as a young and pretty girl could do, and 
had spent long hours in planning the new gown 
which her father had insisted she must have. 

“ Something simple and pretty, Lou ; but good 
of its kind,” had been his only instruction. “ Don’t 
spoil it, for the sake of a few dollars; just get 
something that can stand on its own merits, and 
not have to be patched out with laces and ribbons 
and all sorts of other gimcrackery. You know 
what I mean ; but I want my daughter to look her 
best.” 

Nevertheless, after all her anticipations, Louise 


270 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


was looking a little troubled and anxious, as she 
stood there, arraying herself in the pale blue crape 
gown which fell about her in soft, clinging folds, 
unbroken by any ornament except the crescent of 
pearls that fastened the high, close rufif at her neck. 
For some reason, Ned had been feeling ill that 
day. He had complained of being cold, in the 
morning; and, instead of going to Mr. Nelson’s as 
usual, he had lain on the sofa all day long, too 
miserable even to go with Grant to the Burnams’, 
where the boys had been asked to spend the after- 
noon and dine. For the past day or two, Mr. 
Everett had been away from home on business, 
and would only return just in time to take his 
daughter to the Fishers’ ; and Mrs. Pennypoker 
had made light of the boy’s trouble, pronouncing 
it merely a slight fit of indigestion which would 
be gone by the next morning. Still, Louise had 
been alarmed, unnecessarily so, Mrs. Pennypoker 
had told her. But the boy seemed thoroughly ill 
and feverish, and she had persuaded him to go 
to bed early, promising to hurry her dressing, and 
go in to sit with him until the carriage came for 
her. 

Now, as she arranged her great bunch of white 
roses, and tied them with a long blue ribbon. 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 2/1 

before laying them ready beside her fan and gloves, 
she was half resolving to give up the party and 
stay quietly at home with Ned. Of the two boys, 
he was decidedly her favorite ; and she disliked the 
idea of leaving him to the mercies of Mrs. Penny- 
poker, whose tenderness was a little too brazen in 
its nature to be acceptable to an affectionate, im- 
pressionable lad like Ned. However, she knew 
that her father was hurrying his return on purpose 
to act as her escort, so she was unwilling to dis- 
appoint him at the last moment She was still 
hesitating what course to pursue, as she gathered 
up her train and started for her brother’s room, 
with the largest of the roses in her hand, to leave 
with him when she went away. But, as soon as 
she came in sight of Ned’s face, she felt no further 
doubt. Unaccustomed to illness as she was, she 
saw at a glance that the boy was worse, although 
he opened his eyes and smiled at her approvingly 
as she paused beside him. 

You look just gay,” he said hoarsely. 

Gayer than you feel ? ” Louise asked play- 
fully, while she bent over him and laid her cool 
hand against his flushed cheek. 

“I’m all right; only I’m so warm, and m.y 
throat’s a good deal sore,” Ned answered; then 


2/2 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


he settled back under the blankets, and closed his 
eyes again. 

Louise watched him closely for a moment. In 
spite of Mrs. Pennypoker’s assurances, this was not 
like any form of indigestion she had ever seen, and 
she determined to send Wang Kum for Dr, Brown- 
lee. From past experience, she knew that Mrs. 
Pennypoker would object to such a course, for she 
had unlimited fakh in her stock of home medicines, 
and regarded the professional services of a doctor 
as invariably leading to the gloomy ministrations 
of the undertaker. Mrs. Pennypoker had never 
quite forgiven Mrs. Burnam for disregarding the 
poultice she had prescribed for Charlie’s eye ; and 
now, all day long, she had been persecuting Ned 
with alternate doses of ginger tea and “ boneset 
bitters,” which were her staple remedies for almost 
every ill to which flesh was heir. Louise had sub- 
mitted, much against her better judgment; but now 
she felt that the time had come for decided action, 
so she stealthily made her way to the kitchen in 
search of Wang Kum. 

‘‘ I wish you ’d go over and ask Dr. Brownlee to 
come in here for a few minutes, as soon as he can, 
Wang,” she said, in a low voice. 

Wang Kum nodded wisely. 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 


273 


“All light; Wang sabe. You no wan’ Mis* 
Pen’plok know.’* And he departed on his errand. 

Quarter of an hour later the doctor came. Wang 
had interrupted him in the midst of dressing for the 
party, and he had hastily finished his toilet and 
hurried over to the Everetts, rather at a loss to 
account for the summons. Louise met him at the 
door. 

“ Dr. Brownlee ! ” she exclaimed, with an accent 
of relief; “ it seemed as if you ’d never come.” 

The doctor looked at her in surprise. From 
Wang’s unconcerned manner, he had supposed 
that his message was in some way connected with 
the coming party ; but the girl’s pale, anxious face 
showed that there was some more serious cause 
for her sending to him. And yet he was only a 
human man ; and, in spite of his quick sympathy 
for her unknown trouble, he paused for a moment 
to gaze at her admiringly, as she stood there with 
her long, light gown sweeping about her feet, and 
one hand stretched out to welcome him, while in 
the other she still held the great white rose that 
she had taken from the bunch he had sent her. 
Then the instinct of the doctor came uppermost 
once more. 

“ Is some one ill? ” he asked briefly. 


274 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

^‘Yes; it’s Ned,” answered Louise hurriedlyc 
“ He hasn’t been well all day, and he ’s worse to- 
night, so I wanted you to see him. Cousin Eu- 
phemia says it ’s nothing but — Come, you can 
see for yourself.” 

In a moment more they were leaning over Ned, 
their evening costumes contrasting strangely with 
the flushed face of the restless little patient. With 
his usual bright, off-hand manner, the doctor 
greeted Ned, as if his coming had been simply a 
matter of chance. But he took careful note of his 
pulse and temperature, and asked a short, direct 
question or two ; then, after a few words more, he 
left the room, beckoning to Louise to follow him. 

“ I ’m glad you sent to me without waiting any 
longer. Miss Everett,” he told her, as soon as they 
were in the parlor once more “ We ’re going to 
have a case of scarlet fever in there, and it ’s high 
time some one was looking out for it.” 

“Scarlet fever — Ned have scarlet fever!” re- 
peated his sister slowly, as she dropped into a 
chair. “ Do you really mean it. Dr. Brownlee ? 
Is he very ill ? ” 

“ Not yet,” returned the doctor. “ But, first of 
all, where is Grant? We must keep him out of 
the way.” 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 


275 


‘‘ He’s at the Burnams’,” answered Louise, rising 
and walking nervously about the room. 

‘‘Well, send Wang over, and have Grant stay 
there. Mrs. Burnam will be willing to look out 
for him, I know ; and he isn’t likely to give them 
any exposure, — the mischief would be done by 
this time, anyway. And then you ought to go 
to—” 

“ I shall not go anywhere,” she answered de- 
cidedly. 

“ But, Miss Everett, think of the danger of your 
taking the fever. I shall have to quarantine the 
house, too ; and Mrs. Pennypoker will be here to 
take care of Ned.” 

Louise stopped in her restless walk, and turned 
to face the doctor, with her head raised proudly 
and a scornful curve to her lips. 

“ Dr. Brownlee, do you think that I am a cow- 
ard?” she asked with cutting emphasis. “Ned 
may be very ill, and I could never leave him with 
Cousin Euphemia.” 

“But the danger,” he urged again feebly, al- 
though he felt that her decision was the right one, 
and he admired her for it, even while he shrank 
from the thought of her possible peril. 

Louise looked steadily into his eyes. 


2/6 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

Ned is my brother/^ she said firmly, though 
her lips were quivering; “and it is my right to 
stay. Besides, if anything should happen ” — 
She paused abruptly, while the tears rushed to 
her eyes. 

“Just as you think best,” said the doctor 
gently. “You are needlessly alarmed to-night. 
Miss hiverett. I will tell you the exact truth: 
Ned is a very sick boy, but there is no present 
danger for him. I needn’t say that I shall do all 
I can to make it easier for you, but ” — he hesi- 
tated ; then added, with one of his cheery laughs, 
“ The fact is, I ’m most awfully glad that you insist 
on staying. Mrs. Pennypoker is a good woman ; 
but she ’s no nurse, and Ned needs somebody 
that’s a little less like a steam saw-mill, if he is 
going to be ill for a week or so. Now, I ’ll go 
down and get a prescription or two put up, and 
stop to see Mrs. Burnam about Grant’s staying 
there, and then I ’ll be back again.” 

“But is it necessary?” remonstrated Louise, 
although she felt the support of his presence, and 
was grateful for it. “ Papa will be here soon, or 
Wang can go; and you were going to the 
Fishers.” 

“ The Fishers can get along without either of 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 


277 


US to-night,” he said laughingly. “ We ’ll have 
our party heie; we seem to be all ready for it.” 
And he smiled meaningly at her dainty gown. 

The door closed behind him, and Louise went 
quietly to her room, to take off her gown and put 
on a soft white wrapper, before going back to her 
brother. From the first, she had been sure, from 
the doctor’s manner, that he had felt alarmed 
about Ned ; but, in her present mood, she was 
grateful to him for his assumed carelessness, and 
she appreciated the kindness with which he was 
giving up the evening to her needs. Some sud- 
\ den girlish regret made her snatch up the roses 
and bury her face in them, as two great tears 
rolled down her cheeks ; then she quickly untied 
the flowers and put them back into the bowl, all 
but one, which she fastened in her gown, to be 
her companion and comfort in her long, anxious 
evening. 

Early the next morning Dr. Brownlee was there 
again ; and for the next week he was constant in 
his attendance, for the boy was very, very ill. 
Day after day the fever had increased, until it 
seemed as if the young, strong life must yield to 
its power. Now he lay in a heavy stupor, now 
he muttered and laughed to himself in wild de- 


2/8 IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 

lirium ; but each night found him a little weaker 
than he had been the night before, and each 
morning brought from the doctor’s lips the same 
sad verdict, “ No better.” During all these long 
days, Louise had scarcely left the room, but 
watched over him, night and day, with a fierce- 
ness of devotion which resented any interference. 

“ He ’s mine, I tell you,” she said, turning on 
the doctor, who was trying to coax her from the 
room. “ He ’s my brother and my favorite — 
oh, why can’t you understand? He keeps call- 
ing me, when he doesn’t know anybody else ; 
and what if he should come to himself and 
want me, and I shouldn’t be there ? Let me stay 
with him while I can, for it may not be so very 
long — Oh, my Ned ! ” And brushing away the 
hot tears, she turned and went back to her old 
place. 

Two days later the doctor slowly went up the 
steps to the door. His heart was heavy with 
dread, for he knew that the crisis was at hand, 
and he felt that the issue was more than doubtful. 
Without ringing the bell for Wang Kum to admit 
him, he entered the house, and went directly to 
Ned’s room. He was in there for a long time ; 
then he left Mr. Everett and Mrs. Pennypoker 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 


279 


with the boy, and came out into the hall again. 
As he 'passed the parlor door, he paused for a 
moment ; then he pushed it open, and went into 
the room. Beside the table sat Louise, with her 
head resting upon her folded arms, so still that 
he thought she must have fallen asleep from sheer 
exhaustion. But, as she heard his step she raised 
her head to speak to him, and he was shocked to 
see the hard, drawn lines on her pale face, and 
the dull, cold light in her eyes. 

“ They say it can’t last much longer,” she said 
wearily, and without asking him for his opinion. 

^‘No,” he assented gently, as he sat down by 
her side. “ It can’t be like this long ; the change 
will come in a few hours, and then I hope our 
Ned will be better.” 

But Louise shook her head. 

“ What ’s the use of saying that. Dr. Brownlee ? ” 
she said, in a low, strained voice. You don’t 
mean it, I know; and I’m not a baby, to be 
comforted with just words. Oh, doctor, if I could 
only cry ! I Ve tried to, and I can’t, — can’t do 
anything but think, and wonder what I shall do 
without Ned.” 

She was silent for a moment ; then she went on 
excitedly, “ Dr. Brownlee, if Ned doesn’t get well, 


28 o 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


I shall always believe that Dr. Hofer killed him. 
There was a case of fever across the creek, and he 
let the children from that very house go all over 
town. One of them was in the choir, a week . 
before Ned was taken ill. It was wicked, wicked ! 

I can’t have Ned’s life thrown away, just for that. 

It mustn’t be so ; I can’t bear it ! ” And her 
head dropped again, as she wailed, “ Oh, doctor, 
can’t you save him? ” 

The sight of her bitter sorrow was more than 
the doctor could bear, and his own voice was 
unsteady, as he answered sadly, — 

I will do what I can ; but we can only wait and 
hope.” He paused ; then he laid one of his firm 
hands on hers, and said in a low voice, “ Louise, 

I can’t help you ; but won’t you give me the 
right to comfort you, to ” — 

But Louise interrupted him. 

Wait,” she begged. I can’t think of it now 
— of anything but Ned. I must go back to him.” 
And she left him alone. 

Late that evening, the doctor and Mrs. Penny- 
poker sat by the bed, almost breathlessly watching 
the boy, who lay in a sort of stupor. Dr. Brown- 
lee had come in early, and announced his inten- 
tion of spending the night in the house, to watch 


THE COMPLETED STORY. 


281 


over his patient. He had sent away Louise and 
her father to take a little rest, promising to call 
them, in case of any change. For more than two 
hours he had been sitting there, expecting the end 
to come at almost any moment ; but still the boy’s 
lethargy was unbroken. 

Then, all at once, the doctor leaned forward 
and gazed closely at the face before him. The 
change had come, and Ned lay breathing quietly, 
in the longed-for, life-giving sleep. For a few 
moments more Dr. Brownlee sat there, scarcely 
daring to move ; then, with a happy nod to Mrs. 
Pennypoker, he left her to wipe her eyes unseen, 
and stole away to tell the glad news to Louise. 

He found her in the parlor, in her old position 
by the table, too much absorbed with her dread 
and sorrow to hear his step, until he was close at 
her side. She started up, with the question on 
her lips; but before she could speak the words, 
a glance at his face had told her all. With one 
little glad outcry, she seized his outstretched 
hand; then she dropped down on the sofa, to 
hide her face in the pillows and sob like a little 
child, in all the fervor of her joy and thankfulness. 

The doctor stood waiting by her side, until her 
first outburst was over; then, when she had grown 


282 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


more quiet, he bent down beside her, to say 
gently, — 

“ And now, Louise ” — 

There was no need for many words. For an 
instant, Louise looked up into the expectant face 
above her; then she put her hand in his. 


CHAPTER XVTT. 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 

** Did you get any letters this morning, Wang? ” 
inquired Mrs. Pennypoker, as the Chinaman came 
in to remove the dishes from the breakfast table. 

“No/^ replied Wang Kum briefly. 

** Not any at all ? How very strange ! ” And 
Mrs. Pennypoker looked questioningly at Wang 
Kum, who returned her gaze with impenetrable 
composure. I thought I should surely hear 
from brother ^Nathaniel to-day. What can have 
become of the letter ! ” 

‘‘ Wang no sabe,” answered the Chinaman with 
an almost imperceptible shrug. 

He turned away to go to the kitchen; but, just 
as he passed the window where Louise stood look- 
ing out, he contrived to let a fork slip from the 
plate in his hand. Louise started at the clatter, 
and glanced over her shoulder, to be met by a 
wink and smirk of infinite cunning, before the man 
stooped to pick up the fork, and finally vanished 
283 


284 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


into the outer room. A moment later she fol- 
lowed him. 

“Did you want to speak to me, Wang?” she 
asked, trying in vain to appear unusually dignified, 
as she faced the man who stood chuckling before 
her. 

But Wang, by no means abashed by her man- 
ner, bestowed upon her a second wink of exceed- 
ing craftiness, while he slowly drew a note out 
from the loose sleeve of his shapeless blue coat. 

“ Wang rrifts’ a forgot him ; you no tell,” he said 
softly, with a stealthy glance at the dining-room 
door behind him, as if expecting to see Mrs. 
Pennypoker appear on the threshold and swoop 
down upon him at any moment. 

Louise glanced at the letter in her hand. She 
was annoyed to feel her color come, as she saw that 
it was addressed to her in Dr. Brownlee’s well- 
known writing. 

“Where did you get this, Wang? ” she asked. 

“ Doc’ Blownlee.” And Wang Kum smiled 
knowingly. 

“ But he didn’t tell you to give it to me this 
way, did he ? ” she asked again. 

“He no tell; Wang sabe, all samee. Wang 
no fool.” And Wang marched back to the 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 285 

dining-room, leaving Louise to read her note 
unobserved. 

As she had supposed, it was merely a message 
to appoint the hour for a ride they had agreed 
upon for that afternoon. There was not the 
slightest reason that she should not have received 
and read it under the eye of Mrs. Pennypoker; 
but long experience had taught her that the ways 
of Wang Kum were past finding out, so she only 
tucked the note into her belt and went on her 
way, resolving, however, to warn the doctor to 
select another Cupid, in the future, to be the bearer 
of his messages. 

Some weeks had slipped away since Ned’s ill- 
ness, and spring had once more come to Blue 
Creek. The crisis of the fever once passed, the 
boy had quickly rallied, and, thanks to the devoted 
care of Louise and the doctor, his recovery had 
been sure and steady, until at length he was pro- 
nounced nearly well enough to resume his former 
place among his friends. Then came the time of 
thoroughly disinfecting and airing the house, for 
Dr. Brownlee was not the man to leave any uncer- 
tainty as to results. His quarantine had been as 
strict as his later measures were energetic, and he 
had refused to rest until he was assured that no 


286 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


danger could come from his patient. Owing to the 
negligence of Dr. Hofer, the disease had been 
spreading across the creek, until the board of 
health had interfered, and summarily taken the 
cases from his care to give them into the hand of 
Dr. Brownlee, whose vigorous treatment had 
checked the trouble, even though it had incurred 
the hostility of the parents of the fever-stricken 
children. 

But at last the doctor had said that all danger at 
the Everetts’ was over, and Grant had been allowed 
to come home once more. In spite of the good 
times he had been having with Howard and 
Charlie, in spite of the motherly welcome of Mrs. 
Burnam, the boy had been thoroughly homesick 
during the period of his banishment from home. 
It was the first time that he and his brother had 
ever been separated, and Ned was his hero and 
idol, as well as his constant companion. During 
the long days of waiting, when the fever was at its 
height. Grant had wandered disconsolately about 
the house, refusing to be comforted, and looking 
so pale and miserable as to be a mere shadow of 
his usual bright self, and to cause Mrs. Burnam 
many an hour of anxiety lest he, too, were about 
to be ill. Then came the sudden change for the 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 28/ 

better, and, for a day or two. Grant was like a wild 
creature in the exuberance of his joy; but he was 
restless and anxious to be at home with his brother 
again, sure that no one else could take as good 
care of him as he. He had even waylaid the 
doctor on the street one morning, and tried to 
bribe him to allow a return home ; but Dr. Brown- 
lee was firm, and Grant had been forced to bide 
his time. 

The whole Everett household had been radiant 
with its new happiness, during these last few weeks. 
It would have been enough for them all to have 
Ned brought back to life, after their terrible hours 
of suspense ; and for days they hovered about the 
boy, almost unable to believe that their bright, 
affectionate, impish Ned was to remain with them, 
after all. Even Mrs. Pennypoker had cast aside 
her strict principles of discipline, and coddled him 
and fussed over him to her heart’s content, while 
Wang openly prided himself on being the means 
of his recovery. 

“ Wang went ’way off out doors,” he had con- 
fided to Louise ; “ all lonee ; hollered heap loud to 
Up-in-Sky. Up-in-Sky no say anything ; he sabe, 
all samee ; came down heap quick to help Mas’ 
Ned.” 


?88 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


In the midst of this rejoicing there had come a 
cause for even increased happiness. On the morn- 
ing after Ned had turned the dangerous corner, 
and started on his slow journey back into life once 
more, Dr. Brownlee had gone into the parlor where 
Mr. Everett sat writing letters, and had closed the 
door behind him. His stay was only a short one ; 
then Mr. Everett came out, and went in search 
of Louise. 

“Come, my girl,” he said gently; “ Winthrop 
is waiting for you. Your mother would have been 
very happy to-day, as happy as I am.” And he 
led her to the parlor door ; then he went away, 
and left them alone together. 

To Louise, it had seemed as if the world had 
suddenly been created anew that spring. The 
days flew by like one long, happy dream, while 
she spent hour after hour amusing her brother 
during his tedious convalescence, or left him to 
Mrs. Pennypoker’s care when she escaped to the 
parlor, to enjoy the doctor’s short, but frequent 
calls. Ned had been as rapturous as his sister 
when the good news was told to him ; and he had 
saluted the doctor as Brother Brownlee upon the 
occasion of his next visit. 

“It’s just too jolly,” he had said, with the first 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 289 

return of his old, irrepressible manner. “ I ’d 
rather have you take Lou than anybody else I 
know ; and I 'm no end glad I helped it on. You 
know you ’d never have come to the point, if I 
hadn’t scared you both out of your senses ; but ” 
— he paused, and then asked wickedly, but 
I say, Lou, what do you suppose the Reverend 
Gabriel will have to say about it? ” 

The Reverend Gabriel, in the mean time, had 
kept himself informed on the subject of Ned’s 
illness, and although he had held himself at a 
prudent distance from all danger of infection, he 
had not neglected the young invalid. As soon as 
it was definitely known that the boy was on the 
way to recovery. Dr. Hornblower had sent him, 
through the safe medium of the post-office, a little 
book of “ Sick-room Meditations,” whose black 
cover bore the cheering design of a tomb under a 
pair of weeping willows. Though the gift was 
doubtless intended in all kindness, it was received 
with more amusement than gratitude, and Ned 
kept it under his pillow to read aloud choice bits 
from it, whenever Louise and Dr. Brownlee were 
together in his room. 

But, during the weeks that the Reverend Gabriel 
had been unable to call at the Everetts’, he had 


290 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


been slowly making up his mind upon a matter of 
weighty importance ; and now at length the time 
had come for him to carry out his intentions. 

The Reverend Gabriel Hornblower, it should be 
stated, was a romantic soul ; and, in his tanned, 
weather-beaten old body, there throbbed a heart 
as ardent as ever beat in the breast of a boy of 
eighteen. Its manifestations, however, were often 
a little eccentric, for its owner was as ignorant 
and unworldly as a child. For years he had fed 
his elderly imagination upon the most impassioned 
love scenes to be found in the pages of novel or 
biography. Unfortunately for him, there was 
nothing in the least modern about his literary 
taste ; but he had confined his reading to the his- 
tories of the Evelinas and Cherubinas of yore, 
until his idea of the tender passion was as old- 
fashioned and stilted as the books from which it 
had been derived. Nevertheless, the Reverend 
Gabriel was becoming weary of boarding-house 
existence, and beginning to long for the comforts 
of home and the charms of conjugal society. 

It would be hard to say whether the sight of 
Louise Everett’s blonde beauty, or the contempla- 
tion of his own frayed cuffs and ragged buttonholes 
had been the moving cause ; but the result was the 


THE 1 RAGED Y OF THE UNEXPECTED. 29 1 

same. Upon this particular afternoon, he had 
spent an hour in reading over one of his old 
favorites ; then, seizing his hat and cane, with an 
air of desperate resolution, he had hurried out of 
the house, and up the street towards the Everetts’. 

He was ushered into the parlor by Wang Kum, 
who assured him that Louise would soon be at 
home, and rolled out the great leather-covered 
chair from its accustomed corner, in order that 
the Reverend Gabriel might be as comfortable as 
possible, while he awaited her coming. Then he 
withdrew, leaving the guest to his meditations. 

They were not altogether enjoyable ones, how- 
ever. Wang Kurd had told him that Louise was 
riding with Dr. Brownlee, and the Reverend Ga- 
briel, with the jealous eye of a lover, was not slow 
to discern a possible rival in the handsome young 
man, who had been a constant attendant at the 
house, during the past few weeks. Moreover, 
the room was very warm, and the Reverend Ga- 
briel was beginning to grow a little uncomfortable, 
for Wang Kum, with the keen malice of his race, 
had carefully arranged the chair directly opposite 
the register, which brought the heat from the 
stove in the next room. Dr. Hornblower had 
been feeling rather nervous, all that day ; now he 


292 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


feared that he was becoming feverish. He drew 
his hand across his moist brow, and sighed anx- 
iously. Could it be that he was going to be 
ill? 

At length Louise came in. She looked so 
bright and pretty in her dark habit, and with her 
golden hair loosened by the wind and curling 
about her face, that the Reverend Gabriel felt his 
admiration momentarily increasing, while he gazed 
at her. And yet, something in her fresh, girlish 
beauty made him long to draw back from his 
coming interview, as he rose to greet her, and 
caught sight of his own dull, brown face in the 
mirror above her head. 

“ I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long,” 
Louise said courteously, while she unbuttoned her 
gloves and slowly drew them off. “It is such a 
glorious day that we stayed out a little longer 
than we meant to.” 

“ It is a fine day, a very fine one,” returned the 
Reverend Gabriel, eagerly catching at the safe 
topic of the weather. 

“ Yes, and we were shut in so long that I enjoy 
being out, more than ever,” said Louise, while she 
speculated vainly as to the doctor’s motive for this 
call. 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 293 

“ You have had a painful experience/' he an- 
swered gloomily; “a trying and painful experi- 
ence ; but I trust that you are benefited by it. 
My thoughts were continually with you during 
the — um — the ordeal.” 

“ Thank you, Dr. Hornblower,” Louise returned 
gratefully. Our friends were all very kind.” 

“ Doubtless they were,” responded Dr. Horn- 
blower, as he sympathetically wiped his eyes. 
“We were all grieving over the prospective de- 
mise of a young brother. And yet some conso- 
lation would have reached you. Miss Everett; 
love is the only pocket-handkerchief to wipe the 
mourner’s eyes.” 

Louise blushed hotly at the reference. Al- 
though she had made no secret of the matter of 
her engagement, still she was a little surprised to 
have the Reverend Gabriel allude to it in such an 
unexpected fashion. But she was determined to 
carry off her embarrassment as easily as possible, 
so she smiled brightly, as she said, — 

“ Then you have come to congratulate me ; 
thank ” — 

“ Pardon me ! ” interrupted Dr. Hornblower, as 
stiffly as if his rheumatism had suddenly pene- 
trated from his joints to his manners. “ It is not 


294 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


yet the time for congratulation; and, when the 
hour comes, it is I who will receive them.” 

“You?” And Louise stared at the Reverend 
Gabriel in unfeigned astonishment. 

“At least, so it is to be hoped,” returned the 
doctor gravely. 

For a moment, there was an awkward pause, 
while Louise wondered whether the worthy min- 
ister had suddenly taken leave of his senses, and 
the doctor writhed uneasily in his chair, as he 
realized that his hour had come. The hush was 
beginning to be painful, and Louise was just open- 
ing her lips to speak, to say something, no mat- 
ter what, when she was suddenly struck speechless 
by seeing the Reverend Gabriel lay his hat and 
cane on the floor beside his chair, then clumsily 
kneel down before her and clasp his hands. For 
one brief instant, she supposed that he was about 
to give her the benefit of his professional services, 
and she composed her face to listen with befitting 
gravity ; but his first words dispelled the illusion. 

“ Louisa,” he began, in a tone so devoid of ex- 
pression as to suggest the possibility of his having 
written out the words and committed them to 
memory ; “ Louisa, behold me a suppliant before 
you, begging, imploring ” — 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 295 

But Louise had started from her chair, and stood 
facing him, her cheeks white with mortification for 
herself and pity for him. 

‘‘Dr. Hornblower,” she begged hastily; “get 
up, please ! You mustn’t say any more.”. 

“ But you do not catch my full meaning,” he 
went on. .“I ask you” — 

“ Get up at once,” she repeated. “ You mustn’t 
say it ; it ’s impossible ! Suppose some one should 
come in. Oh,‘ do get up ! ” 

Yielding to her evident alarm, he awkwardly 
scrambled to his feet, and threw himself down in 
in his chair once more, with a force that pushed it 
back against the opposite wall. 

“ Truly, I never thought of such a thing,” 
Louise said penitently. “ I always supposed that 
you came to see Cousin Euphemia, not me ; or I 
might have prevented this.” 

“ Why should you, Louisa?” returned the Rev- 
erend Gabriel, with a cheerful assurance that grated 
upon her ears. “ I am willing to wait and hope ; 
my heart is eternally yours.” 

“ Oh, I hope not ! ” she answered quickly. 
“ Really, Dr. Hornblower, it never can be, never 
could have been; I never even thought of such 
an idea. You have always been very kind to 


296 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


me, I know,” she went on hesitatingly, trying 
to soften her words a little; “but I thought it 
was only because you felt a fatherly interest in me.” 

“ I ’m not so old as you seem to think,” began 
Dr. Hornblower testily; then, bethinking himself 
that this was not according to his models, he made 
a dramatic pause, before he asked his final ques- 
tion, “ Is there, then. Another? ” 

Louise hung her head and blushed. 

“ I ’m afraid there is,” she faltered. 

“ And his name? ” 

The girl looked at him haughtily ; then her face 
softened, as she thought of the mortification that 
she was inflicting upon the old man before her, and 
she answered gently, — 

“ It is Dr. Brownlee.” 

Once more the Reverend Gabriel hesitated. He 
had carefully rehearsed his part, until he was thor- 
oughly familiar with it; but his imaginary inter- 
views had taken only the one form, and he had 
never counted upon such an ending as this. How- 
ever, he was resolved to carry it through to the 
close ; and, after a hasty review of the ways of 
rejected lovers, he recalled the case of the luck- 
less Alphonso Ludovico, and felt himself prepared 
to meet the new emergency. 


THE TRAGEDY OF THE UNEXPECTED. 297 


It is the end,” he said slowly. ‘‘ Pardon my 
intrusion, Miss Everett; I will no longer impose 
upon your kindness. I go forth upon my lonely 
way.” 

He started to rise from his chair, but came to a 
sudden pause, while a sound of rending and crack- 
ing broke the silence that had followed his tragic 
words. All unconsciously, Wang Kum had given 
him the sticky chair; and the heat of the room and 
the doctor’s feverish agitation, had combined to pro- 
duce the catastrophe. The Reverend Gabriel Horn- 
blower was trapped as effectually as a fly in a pool 
of molasses, and could only struggle helplessly in 
his efforts to free himself. 

Louise came to his relief, and together they suc- 
ceeded in separating his coat from the chair-back, 
and he took his ignominious departure. The young 
girl stood looking after him, until he disappeared 
around the corner, then she fled to her own room, 
and into the very depths of her closet, to smother 
the sound of her hysterical laughter. But when at 
last she grew quiet, her face became very gentle 
once more, as she said to herself, in a tone of wo- 
manly pity, — 

‘‘ Poor old man ! But at least, I can keep his 
secret ; not even Winthrop shall ever know.” 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


298 

In the mean time, the Reverend Gabriel had 
slowly betaken himself to his lonely room, where 
he laid aside his hat, and approached the mirror. 

** No,” he said to himself, as he stood gazing at 
the reflected face before him ; “ it wouldn’t do ; it 
wouldn’t do. She ’s too beautiful ; and I’m — too 
old.” And he seated himself in his worn old easy- 
chair, and took up the book he had laid aside an 
hour before. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


UNDER ORDERS. 

It was less than two weeks after the Reverend 
Gabriel’s call upon Louise, that Mr. Burnam came 
up from his office, one noon, with a letter in his 
hand. 

^‘Well, daught,” he called, as Allie ran out to 
meet him; where ’s mamma? I have some news 
for her.” 

“News! What is it? Nothing very bad, I 
hope,” she answered, as she seized his hand in 
both of hers, and hurried him towards the house. 

“ That depends,” he said laughing. “ Wait till 
we get into the house, and then I ’ll tell you.” 

“ I don’t believe it’s much of anything,” she de- 
clared scornfully. “ If ’t was, you never could 
Avait to tell us.” 

“ We ’ll see about it,” responded her father, as 
he entered the house. 

But it was not until they were all seated about 
the lunch table that he would tell them his news. 
From the central office of the railway by which he 
299 


300 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


had been employed for the past five years, a letter 
had come to him, that very morning, offering him 
the position of consulting engineer for the com- 
pany, an advance which would bring him much 
honor and more salary. For a few moments there 
was a babel of congratulation and rejoicing ; then 
Mrs. Burnam put an end to it all by asking 
quietly, — 

“ And when shall we have to leave here? ” 
Leave?” And Allie turned to stare at her 
mother in consternation. 

“ Yes ; of course we shall have to go away from 
Blue Creek very soon,” answered her mother cheer- 
fully ; for, though at heart she was as sorry as Allie 
to leave her pleasant friends in the little camp, she 
was unwilling to let her one regret throw a shadow 
over her husband’s happiness in his promotion. 

“ Leave Blue Creek, and the Everetts, and Mar- 
jorie, and all? Let’s not go,” urged Howard. 

The old road isn’t worth it, papa.” 

Mr. Burnam laughed. 

I ’m sorry you don’t think so, How’ard,” he 
answered ; “ but I ’m afraid we must go. St. Paul 
isn’t a bad place to live in ; and we should have 
had to leave here this spring, anyway, for my 
present survey won’t take me much longer. I ’m 


UNDER ORDERS. 


301 


to report for duty in two months,” he added, 
turning to his wife once more. “Will that give 
you time to get ready?” 

“ Two weeks would do,” she said promptly ; “ I 
haven’t been your wife all these years for nothing. 
I ’m sorry to go away from here, of course, for 
we’ve made pleasant friends; but I sha’n’t be 
sorry to have a settled home. Besides, it ’s time 
the children were in some good school, if they’re 
ever going to college.” 

“What do you think about it all, Charlie?” 
asked his uncle. “You haven’t told us, yet.” 

“ I ’m about as much mixed up as Auntie is,” 
he replied slowly, while he gave Allie’s hand a 
consoling pinch, as it lay on the table, toying 
with her fork. “ I don’t want to leave the doc- 
tor, and the boys, and all, and this place has been 
immense fun ; but, as long as I can be with you 
people, I don’t mind much else, and, if we go to 
St. Paul, I can stay with you till I ’m ready for 
college, — that is, if you’ll keep me.” 

“ We won’t send you off just yet,” returned his 
uncle. “ Howard and Allie would have something 
to say about that, I fancy. Let me see ; this is 
May, and I have to be ready by the first of July. 
We shall have to leave here the last week in June, 


302 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


SO you must make the most of your time till 
then.” 

“ Oh, dear ! ” sighed Allie, as she and the boys 
were starting for the Everetts’, that afternoon, to 
tell the great news. “We never stayed so long in 
one place before, and I began to hope we ’d live 
here always. We ’ve had such good times, too, 
’specially since Charlie came ; and I don’t want 
to leave all these people.” 

“ ’T isn’t all of them, though,” responded How- 
ard. “ There aren’t so many I care about, if we 
could take the Everetts and Fishers and Dr. 
Brownlee along with us.” 

“ And the mountains, and Wang Kum, and our 
ponies,” added Allie. “ Janey says she’ll go too. 
But it ’s no use to try to count up what we ’re leav- 
ing, or I shall just sit down and begin to cry.” 

“Better not,” advised Howard practically; “ it’s 
no end dusty, and we can’t spend time to brush 
you off. Besides, St. Paul is right on the way to 
everywhere, and we shall see people when they 
go East. Don’t you go to being in the dumps, 
sis; ’t won’t mend matters to grumble, and we’ve 
moved before without its killing us.” 

But in spite of his advice to his sister, Howard 
was the most disconsolate member of the party, 


UNDER ORDERS. 


303 


as they, sat on the Everetts’ front steps, talking of 
the separation in store for them. 

It ’s a perfect shame,” lamented Marjorie, who 
had joined them there. “ You belong to us, and 
oughtn’t to go away. I had it all planned out, 
too. We were all going to grow up here to- 
gether, and have ever so much fun. Allie and I 
would keep old maid’s hall, and have you four 
boys board with us. Howard would be a civil 
engineer, and Charlie a doctor, and Grant have a 
store, and Ned be a minister; and we’d just have 
an elegant time.” 

’Specially me ! ” remarked Ned, in a tone of 
supreme disgust. “ I ’ve no desire to step into Dr. 
Hornblower’s shoes, when the old man finally 
gives up and goes over the range. Preaching 
isn’t in my line ; I ’ll help Charlie keep his 
shothecary pop, and sell patent medicines. But, 
honestly, with half of us gone, the rest will be 
dismally lonesome. We shall need Allie to keep 
us straight, and Howard to keep us stirred up.” 

And Charlie for general all-overishness,” added 
Marjorie. “ Say, Howard, do you remember the 
day we put Vic into the empty barrel, and turned 
a bushel basket over him, ’cause he would follow 
us, every step we took?” 


304 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


Howard chuckled at the recollection. 

“ Yes. How he did yell ! But do you remem- 
ber the time we shut Marjorie up in the office 
closet, Ned, and then went off and forgot her? ” 

“ That must have been before I came,” said 
Charlie. “ How did she get out? ” 

“ What a question ! didn’t you ever hear Mar- 
jorie squeal?” asked Grant scornfully. “But, I 
say, you lads, do you remember that day that 
Charlie Mac came, and we” — Grant paused 
abruptly. 

“ We what? ” demanded Charlie. 

“ Oh, nothing.” And Grant retired behind Mar- 
jorie, to blush unseen. 

“What was it?” urged Charlie again. “Go 
on and tell. Grant.” 

“ You hush up ! ” And Ned gave his brother a 
threatening glance. 

“ I ’m going to tell, then, if you won’t,” said 
Allie laughing. “ If we don’t, Charlie will think 
it’s something ever so much worse that ’t is. All 
was, the boys didn’t mean to like you anyway, and 
didn’t want you to come. The day you came, 
they went down to the station, and hid around, 
waiting to get a look at you, to see what you were 
like. And the worst of it all was ” — Allie paused 


UNDER ORDERS. 


305 


mischievously, and then went on ; they found you 
weren’t half so bad as they supposed you were 
going to be.” 

“ If we could only go back again, and start 
there all over fresh ! ” sighed Marjorie. 

“We couldn’t have a bit better time than we 
have had,” returned Charlie. “ We ’ve made the 
most of our chance, and we may as well be thank- 
ful for it. Oh, but didn’t I f^el shaky, that first 
morning, when the train stopped, and I had to get 
out ! Allie looked about ten feet high and thirty 
years old, when I saw her standing on the plat- 
form ; and I was sure I was going to be afraid of 
her. Wasn’t, though,” he concluded, giving her 
hair a friendly tweak. 

“ Besides, ’t isn’t quite so bad as if we had to go 
right away,” added Allie hopefully, as they rose to 
go home. “ We have two months more ; and 
there ’s time for ever so much to happen, between 
now and then.” 

But the two months hurried past them, and, 
before any one realized it, the Burnams were on 
the eve of their departure. As Marjorie had said 
when the subject was first mentioned, it was harder 
to stay than to go, for those left behind had to 
keep on in the same old routine^ where they so 


3o6 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


keenly felt the loss of their friends who, on their 
side, were full of anticipations for the new places 
they would see, the new acquaintances they would 
make, while the bustle and excitement of packing 
kept them too busy to realize all that they were 
leaving behind them. 

It had been decided that the Burnams were to go 
away from Blue Creek the last week in June, and, 
soon after this plan was arranged, Louise and Dr. 
Brownlee had announced their intention of being 
married on the twenty-fourth, in order that their 
friends might be present at the wedding, so the 
last few weeks had found the Everett household in 
as great excitement as were the Burnams. It was 
to be only a quiet church wedding, followed by a 
small reception. Louise had reduced Allie and 
Marjorie to a state of speechless delight, by ask- 
ing them to be her bridesmaids ; while the doctor 
had laughingly protested that Charlie and Ned 
should act as ushers, since they had been instru- 
mental in bringing himself and Louise together. 
After a little discussion, this plan had been 
adopted, and the four young people were much 
impressed with their consequence, in taking part, 
for the first time, in so important a ceremony. 

On the evening before the wedding, they all 


UNDER ORDERS. 


307 


walked up together from their rehearsal in the 
chapel, and stopped for a little while on the Ever- 
etts’ front steps, where they were joined by How- 
ard and Grant. 

“ To-morrow, and the next day, and the next, 
and then it will all be over,” said Marjorie 
pensively. 

“ I honestly haven’t had time to think about it, 
this last week,” said Allie. “ We ’ve been so 
topsyturvy and busy that I haven’t thought of 
anything but packing and the wedding.” 

“ No ; we ’ll be the ones to do the thinking,” 
said Ned, as he stretched himself out at his ease, 
on the railing to the little porch. “ With Lou 
married, and you three going, there ’s nothing 
else left for us to do. I ’m going to turn hermit, 
and move up the gulch.” 

“ I wouldn’t, before fall, if I were in your 
place,” returned Howard, in a tone too low to 
catch the ears of the others. 

“What’s next fall? ” asked Ned listlessly. 

“ Don’t you give it away that I told you,” said 
Howard, while he joined his friend on the rail; 
“ but I happened to hear your father talking to my 
father, to-day; and it’s all settled that you and 
Grant are coming to St. Paul, next winter, to 


3o8 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


board with us, and go to school. Hush up ! ” he 
added, as Ned gave a little exclamation of delight. 
“ Don’t tell the others, for I oughtn’t to have said 
anything about it; but I couldn’t hold in any 
longer.” 

For an hour more, they sat there; then Grant’s 
voice broke the hush, as he put his head in at the 
open window of the parlor, where his sister and 
Dr. Brownlee were sitting in the moonlight. 

“That’s the seventh time you’ve said good 
night, Lou,” he remarked, in a hollow tone ; “ and 
I should think the eighth ’most ought to do the 
business, unless you want to be dead sleepy, to- 
morrow night, while you ’re in the middle of being 
tied up.” 

The next evening found the chapel crowded. 
Every seat was occupied, and the side aisles were 
filled with the miners and their wives, who stood 
waiting to look on at the marriage of “ our Miss 
Lou,” for she was a favorite with them all. At 
length the murmur of voices died away, as Mr. 
Nelson took his place in the chancel, while the 
little organ pealed out the opening strains of the 
wedding march. A moment later, the doors 
swung open and the bridal party entered, Charlie 
and Ned leading the way, with Allie and Marjorie 


UNDER ORDERS. 


309 


following them, while Mr. Everett and his daugh- 
ter came after them. Louise was beautiful, in her 
simple white silk gown, although she looked a lit- 
tle pale and nervous, as she saw so many eyes 
turned upon her. Then she forgot it all, all the 
crowd and the excitement, and even the friends 
gathered about her, and her face grew radiant with 
her love, for Dr. Brownlee had met her at the head 
of the aisle, to lead her forward to the altar; and 
above the low notes of the organ, she heard the 
quiet, earnest voice, as it followed Mr. Nelson’s 
through the familiar words, — 

** I, Winthrop, take thee, Louise, to my wedded 
wife.” 

Their troths were plighted, the ring was slipped 
into place, and the blessing was pronounced. 
Then, as Winthrop Brownlee and his bride turned 
to face the congregation once more, the organ 
rang out in a triumphal march, and the bell in 
the little tower overhead burst into a merry peal. 
The sound rolled far up and down the valley, and 
the mountains echoed back the happy tidings; 
then the evening quiet once more descended upon 
Blue Creek Canon. 


310 


IN BLUE CREEK CANON. 


L’ENVOI. 

The last leaf ended, ere you lay 
My book aside, and turn to rest. 

Read here, old friends, between the lines, 
My loving memories of your West. 

The distance shortens to my eyes; 

To-morrow’s sun will sink to rest 
Behind your hills. One day is all 
That separates us, East and West. 

Then hasten forth, my little book. 

Speed on your way, nor pause to rest; 
But, turning towards the setting sun. 

My greetings bear from East to West. 


“Tremont,” Twenty-seventh May, 1892, 


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CHARLES DICKENS. 

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THE FOUHOIHG OF THE GEHIWAH ElViPiHE 
6V wmiiiflivi I. 

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rank among German historians.” — American Hebrew. 

“ The translation of this admirable history is very well done indeed. It reflects 
few of the German involutions, and reads smoothly and flowingly. Of the history 
itself, it must be said that nothing comparable to it in fulness, clearness, trust- 
worthiness, and vigor, has been written concerning the great events of which it 
treats.” — N. Y. Tribune. 

“ No reason to believe that it will be superseded during the present genera- 
tion.”— TV. F. Sun. 

” No more important historical work has appeared hi the last decade.^' — Nation. 
For Sale by all booTcsellers. Catalogues sent free to any address. 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & 00., Publishers, New York. 






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